Never Stop
by Some1FoundMe
Summary: He knows now that he had fallen in love with her during that very first introduction because there was just something about her that called to him. She was the brightest light that he had ever seen and he'd needed that light to guide him. FutureFic! Established Olicity. No spoilers. **Please note: Rating change** Chapter 18 is rated M.
1. Chapter 1 - Oliver

**Summary:** He knows now that he had fallen in love with her during that very first introduction because there was just something about her that called to him. She was the brightest light that he had ever seen and he'd needed that light to guide him. FutureFic! Olicity. No spoilers.

**A/N:** Firstly, I really don't know where this came from… It just sort of happened. Second, I clearly don't own "Arrow" or the song "Never Stop" by SafetySuit, both are only being borrowed for this fic.

**Never Stop**

_This is my love song to you. Let every woman know I'm yours so you can fall asleep each night, babe, and know I'm dreamin' of you more._

Their little girl is four years old and he cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. He remembers so vividly the day that he met her, the first time she cocked her head and gave him that quizzical look that she has perfected over the years. He will never forget the first time that she made him smile because she was the first person to elicit that reaction from him in more than five years. She'd touched him in that first moment and she'd continued to hold onto him like no one before her – or after her – had been able to. He knows now that he had fallen in love with her during that very first introduction because there was just something about her that called to him. She was the brightest light that he had ever seen and he'd needed that light to guide him.

She is curled up on the sofa, her bare feet tucked beneath her, her hair braided loosely over one shoulder. She is reading something on her tablet, completely ignorant of the fact that he is watching her from the doorway. Not completely ignorant, he thinks, because she always seems to know when he is near the same way that he knows when she is close to him. He feels her the moment she steps into a room, sometimes in the moments before she's even really there, and he knows that the tie that binds them is just as physical for her as it is for him.

_I will never stop trying. I will never stop watching as you leave. I will never stop losing my breath every time I see you looking back at me._

Georgia is napping on the sofa beside her mother, her thumb tucked safely in her mouth, her little body sprawled out, limbs akimbo, and she reminds him so much of himself in sleep. But everything else about her is pure Felicity. She is the spitting image of her mother, even down to the dirty blonde curls and bright blue eyes. She is fiercely independent even at four years old, determined to give him a heart attack by the time he's forty, and she has proven time and again to be too smart for her own good. She has been a handful since the moment that she was born but every single moment has been worth it. They are his life, these girls, his wife and their daughter. They are everything that he lives for now.

_And with this love song to you, it's not a momentary phase. You are my life, I don't deserve you, but you love me just the same. And as the mirror says we're older, I will not look the other way. You are my life, my love, my only, and that's the one thing that won't change._

He knows that he has made mistakes along the way, mistakes that very easily could've deprived him of this life that he cherishes. He had nearly lost her, had almost let her go before coming to his senses. Even then it had taken him four years to let her in. It had taken him four years and watching the life drain out of her for him to let go of all of the things that had been keeping them apart. She had died that night, died in his arms for only a moment before they'd brought her back, but the idea that he could've lost her had ripped his heart open and nearly destroyed him.

The scar on her chest, the one that mars her porcelain skin, is a reminder every time he touches it of what could've been, what he could've lost. But he does what he can not to dwell on the past because he has his entire future to spend with her, with them. It is a future that he had never allowed himself to wish for until he'd met her. He had never considered what his life would be like with a wife and children, with a family that he would die for. He had never believed that he deserved such happiness. He had survived hell for five years. Five years he had fought to live but he hadn't known then what he was truly living for. If he had been asked then if he believed in fate, he would've said no. He would've brushed the question off and walked away. But looking at the woman in front of him now, the mother of his child, the one person in his life who has never lost faith in him, he knows that the moment that he stepped through the doors of Queen Consolidated that day, fate had intervened. It had been fate that had led him to her.

_I will never stop holding your hand. I will never stop opening your door. I will never stop choosing you, babe. I will never get used to you._

She looks up from her tablet, her eyes immediately finding him where he stands with his shoulder resting against the door frame. The smile that lights her face makes his breath catch. He is well aware of the fact that she is too good for him, that he can't possibly deserve her, and that makes her love even more precious to him. When she sets her tablet aside and stands, his body is immediately in motion, crossing the room to her, and he wraps her firmly in his embrace. He buries his face in her hair, inhaling the sweet, familiar scent of her, and expels a breath he hadn't realized that he'd been holding. They remain that way for a long moment, both of them needing this connection, this moment to reacquaint themselves after spending the majority of their day apart. Even though they drove to work together that morning, even though he'd been able to kiss her goodbye outside of her office, he had spent the better part of the past eight hours longing for her. His need for her hasn't faded after all this time.

_You still get my heart racing. You still get my heart racing for you. You still get my heart racing. You still get my heart racing for you. _

She pulls away, lifting one small hand to cup his jaw, and presses up on her toes so that she can kiss him. Her lips are soft, careful, as if she's holding back, and he knows almost immediately. He is the first to move back, just enough so that he can look down into her upturned face.

"Felicity…"

The question doesn't need to be spoken allowed. She knows what he's asking. They've talked for months now about what it would mean, what would change, and they had agreed that it was time. They had decided to let fate decide. They haven't been trying, per se, but they haven't been _not trying _either.

When she worries her lower lip between her teeth and nods, everything in him is suddenly weightless. His head is spinning, his heart pounding, and he knows that this moment is the third most incredible moment of his life. The day that she became his wife. The day that they found out for the first time that they would be parents. And this day. The day that they discovered that they would become parents to yet another amazing child.

He tugs her back into his arms, his hold on her unrelenting, but she doesn't fight him. Her small arms wrap around his waist and her face is pressed tightly to his chest. He feels her tears soak through the cotton of his shirt. He has to work to hold in the emotions that want to choke him in that moment. He is overwhelmed by the sheer joy that her news brings him. When they had discovered that they were going to be parents for the first time, his joy had been smothered by the gripping fear that he would mess everything up, that he wouldn't be a good father to their child. That fear has no hold on him this time. This time, all he knows is that his family is growing and that, even though he knows he doesn't deserve it, he has the life that is perfect for him. And without her, that life would mean nothing. They are exactly where they belong.

_I will never stop holding your hand. I will never stop opening your door. I will never stop choosing you, babe. I will never get used to you._


	2. Chapter 2 - Felicity

A/N: I don't own any part of "Arrow" nor do I own "She is Love" by Parachute

_I've been beaten down, I've been kicked around, but she takes it all for me. And I lost my faith in my darkest days but she makes me want to believe. _

When she wakes she is met with a familiar sight. Georgia, now five years old, is sprawled out across her father's chest, her eyes closed, mouth slightly open, and sound asleep. She doesn't know when their daughter made her way into their room but she knows that it has become a common occurrence in the past few months. As the arrival of their second child nears, their little girl is becoming more and more attached to her father.

She shifts closer to them, running her fingers carefully through the curls on her daughter's head. She moves her head to Oliver's pillow, nuzzling into the morning stubble that dusts his jaw, and he sighs in his sleep.

There are mornings – mornings like this one specifically – when she has difficulty believing that this is really her life. They are so happy, their lives so perfectly normal, that it is easy to forget what it is that brought them together. When she really has time to dwell on it, she finds it ironic that the major changes in their relationship have come on the cusp of one of them nearly losing their life. Oliver had come close to death the night that Moira had shot him. That was the first time that the dynamic between them had changed. It had been her that he had come to for help. And while she'd hardly known him then, the prospect of losing him - of never having the opportunity to be a part of his life – had been devastating. But it had been that event that had changed the nature of their relationship and, for her, nothing had been the same after.

She stares at his face in profile, her eyes not missing a single detail. She cannot deny that she had been attracted to him from the first moment that she had laid eyes on him. He is handsome in a tragically gorgeous, rugged sort of way and she hadn't been immune to his charm. But as time had passed and she'd gotten to know him, as he'd let her see the man beneath the façade, the schoolgirl crush that she'd had turned into something so much more. He had become an integral part of her day to day life. He had, she knew, stolen a piece of her heart. It hadn't been easy for her then. It had taken a lot of patience, patience that had repeatedly been tested, but in the end the wait had been worth it.

_Well I had my ways, they were all in vain. And she waited patiently. It was all the same, all my pride and shame. She put me on my feet._

Her unborn daughter is awake and kicking and her hand drifts to her protruding belly. She rubs soothing circles on the place where she thinks that Madeline's head is and hums softly to her. She has been anxious at that prospect of adding to their family from the moment that she discovered that she was expecting. They had talked about it for months, both of them certain that they wanted more children but both of them wary of what another baby would mean for every other aspect of their lives.

When Georgia had been born, she had cut back on the time that she spent both at QC and at the foundry. She had been focused solely on being the best mother to her daughter as possible but she hadn't realized right away how much of herself she had given up in the process. She had missed working with Oliver – no matter how much she despised the title 'Executive Assistant' – and she had worried herself sick every time he donned the hood and went out into the streets without her there to guide him. When she had finally gone back to work, it had been with a five-month-old Georgia in tow. She had even set up a playpen in the foundry which hadn't gone over well with her husband. The resulting fight had been one of the worst that they'd ever had but in the end she had gotten her way. She had convinced Oliver that they were both just as safe in the lair at Verdant that they would be at home and he had – eventually – agreed.

_They call her love, love, love, love, love. She is love and she is all I need._

She props her head up on her hand and looks down at Oliver's sleeping face. She sometimes cannot contain the emotions that overwhelm her when she is with him. She has woken up more than once over the last seven years with tears in her eyes. She loves this man more than she should, more than she ever thought possible, and she knows that he feels the same for her. For someone who has always had trouble vocalizing his feelings, she has never doubted his love for her, for their family.

He is an incredible father. He would give his life, give everything, for Georgia and his unyielding devotion has only made her love him more. Watching him hold their little girl, watching him kiss her scraped knees or tie her shoes, these are moments that she cherishes. They are moments that are burned into the archive of her memory. She knows that he will love Madeline just as much as he does Georgia and she knows that there will be many more memories to come.

Suddenly two brilliant blue eyes are staring back at her and her breath is momentarily frozen in her lungs. He gives her a sleepy smile before shifting the little girl currently using him as a pillow to the mattress beside him. He rolls back to her and she doesn't hesitate when he opens his arms. She tucks her head beneath his chin, fitting her frame against him as well as her baby belly will allow. His arms are banded around her protectively, one hand settled firmly at the base of her spine and the other tangled in the mess of her hair. He runs his nose along her temple and she sighs, content to be in his arms again.

"Love you."

The words are soft, muffled against her skin, but she hears them just the same. She grips his shirt tighter where her fists rest against his chest. If someone had asked her when they'd met if she believed in soulmates, she would've laughed. She had grown up doubting the theory that there was someone out there for everyone. She had doubted it because she'd grown up with a mother who had a different 'someone' in her life every couple of months. But then she'd met him and little by little that doubt had turned to hope. It wasn't until the night that she'd nearly lost her life that she knew that it was real.

They are not perfect. They fight and they bicker but they will not give up. They are stronger together than they are apart and she knows beyond a doubt that he is the one person that she will spend her life with. He is it for her. Her someone. Her soulmate.

_They call her love, love, love, love, love. She is love and she is all I need. She is all I need._


	3. Chapter 3 - Oliver

A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews I was inspired by the first song, Never Stop by SafetySuit and this story is sort of snowballing. I don't know how many more chapters there'll be of this one but I'll keep going if I can. And again, I don't own Arrow or the song "Love Song" by Pink.

**Never Stop**

_I've never written a love song, that didn't end in tears. Maybe you'll rewrite my love song, if you can replace my fears._

The woman in front of him is bleeding and broken. The wound in her chest is gaping. He reaches for her but she stumbles back, terror flashing in her eyes. He sees the gun in his hand, can feel the weight of it against his palm, and he opens his mouth to beg for her forgiveness. The words don't come, the only sound to escape his lips is an agonized cry.

Blood soaks the blouse that she wears and he watches helplessly as she sinks to her knees. He cannot help the tears that blur his vision as the life leaves her eyes. He wants to tell her that he didn't mean it. He needs her to know that this was never supposed to happen. He loves her. He loves her but it's too late. The woman that he loves, who has supported him and encouraged him, who has loved him in return, is suddenly gone. His world has been shattered.

He wakes with her name dying on his lips. She is there, the light of the moon filtering through their bedroom window illuminating her worried blue eyes. She threads her fingers through his hair, her hands moving methodically as she tries to chase his demons away. He cannot see her clearly through the tears that cloud his vision. He can't wipe away the image of his wife covered in blood, the wound in her chest a result of his own actions. He wants to pull away from her, from the comfort that she offers and find solace in the darkness that is his life. But he knows better. He knows that she is the best thing for him. She is his cure-all. She is the balm that heals his wounds. The salve that soothes the ache that has settled in his heart. She is the dream catcher that keeps the nightmares at bay. She is the sun that forces the shadows in his mind to vanish. She is the piece that completes the puzzle that his life has become. She is the air that makes it possible for him to breathe.

_I need your patience and guidance, all your loving and more. When thunder rolls through my life, will you be able to weather the storm?_

He pulls her tight to his chest, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling the scent that is her, a combination of the two of them. Some days he feels as if they are the same person, as if he only moves when she moves and only breathes when she breathes. More often than not, he cannot tell where he ends and she begins. He used to worry that it was too much, that he would be suffocated by his need for her. He once believed that keeping his feelings for her at bay was the best – the safest – thing for her, for both of them. But in this moment, and the many others like it, he knows that he wouldn't have survived as long as he has without her.

_But what's the point of this armor, if it keeps the love away, too? I'd rather bleed with cuts of love than live without any scars._

The cry of their infant daughter rings out in the silence, startling them both. Felicity extricates herself from his embrace and climbs from their bed. His eyes follow her across the room to the door and a few minutes after he loses sight of her in the hall, her voice comes over the baby monitor. She coos at Madeline, using her silly baby voice to soothe their fussing daughter. He lets the sound wash over him, lets the softness of her voice chase the remnants of his nightmare away. More and more they come. They plague him because he knows that he cannot do all of this without her. Georgia and Madeline need their mother. He needs her because he could not be the father that he is without her there to balance him.

He gets out of bed and makes his way to the nursery, stopping in Georgia's room for just a moment to make sure that his little girl is tucked safely in her bed. He comes to a stop in the doorway of Madeline's room and is enthralled by the sight that greets him. Felicity sits in the rocking chair in the corner with their daughter cradled in her arms, the thin tank top she wears has been pushed down so that she can nurse the baby and for some reason the picture that they make feels incredibly intimate. The emotion that it evokes within him is something that he still hasn't become used to after all of this time. It is a love so fierce that it steels his breath. Unlike the gripping fear that had woken him, the tightness in his chest now is a welcome feeling.

_Baby, can I trust this? Or do all things end? I need to hear that you'll die for me again and again and again._

She lifts her head and when their eyes meet, she smiles at him. He crosses the room numbly, his legs carrying him to them without consciously being told, and he sits on the floor at her feet. He pulls his knees to his chest, resting his chin there. She does not look away from him, her eyes silently asking him if the nightmare that had plagued him is gone. He nods and she sighs, relieved. Madeline fusses and Felicity moves her to the other side. He stays there even after the baby falls back to sleep, watching as she strokes her fingers through the soft hair on her head.

They sit in silence for a long time. He is content to just be still, to let her presence calm his still racing heart. They don't talk about it anymore, the need for one another that consumes them both at all hours, but it is still there. He no longer wonders if that need will fade, if his desire for her will wane as they grow old together. He knows that time will not take her away from him. Instead it will only bring her closer. As he watches her with their second child, as he takes in the curve of her breasts and the way that her hips flare, he feels that same yearning that has been there for as long as he's known her. He sometimes thinks of the way that things could've been, how his life could've turned out. If he had stayed with Sara. If Felicity had chosen to go to Central City all those years ago and never come home. He knows that things could've been so different than they are now and he can never express his gratitude strongly enough. Fate brought him to her then and love has kept them together for close to a decade.

_So tell me when you look in my eyes, can you share all the pain and the happy times? Cause I will love you for the rest of my life._

"Oliver?"

He lifts his head and waits for her to continue. She doesn't but when she gets to her feet and places Madeline back in her crib, he watches her carefully. Before he can stand, she is in front of him, reaching for his hand. He lets her help him to his feet.

"Take me to bed."

How he could possibly deny such a request, he doesn't know. So he does the only thing that he can. He leads her down the hall.

_This is my very first love song that didn't end in tears. I think you re-wrote my love song for the rest of my years. I will love you for the rest of my life._


	4. Chapter 4 - Felicity

**A/N:** Again, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this and especially to those who've left a review! The comments are greatly appreciated. I obviously don't own _Arrow _nor do I own the song "Don't Deserve You" by Plumb but I'm sort of in love with both so… here's another chapter

**Never Stop**

_You're the first face that I see and the last thing that I think about. You're the reason that I'm alive. You're what I can't live without. You're what I can't live without. You never give up when I'm falling apart. Your arms are always open wide. And you're quick to forgive when I make a mistake, you love me in the blink of an eye._

She watches him from across the foundry. Watches as John helps him down the stairs and to the steel table where she will have to stitch up whatever injury he has sustained tonight. Her heart is in her throat, choking her, as worry eats at her stomach. She is frozen where she stands, following his every move with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

They have been here so many times before. She has stitched up shallow cuts and deep gashes and patched up bullet holes but no matter how many times she gets his blood on her hands, she will never get past the heart stopping fear that tears through her at the sight of him hurting. In the decade that they have been fighting this fight, the urge to protect him, to beg him to stay with her night after night, has never faded. It has only grown stronger. She has considered asking him to give it up. To give up this battle that he continues to fight. To step aside and let Roy take his place the way he wants to. She wants to ask him to be a father to their children, to be her husband, and to let the Arrow go. But she can't . She can't because she knows that being the vigilante is still a large part of what makes him who he is. It was this crusade that brought him to her so long ago and it has been the core of their lives for close to ten years.

She takes a steadying breath, glancing at Madeline in her playpen. She is asleep, her soft snores indicating that she hasn't been disturbed by the return of her daddy and Uncle John.

_I don't deserve your love but you give it to me anyway. Can't get enough, you're everything I need. And when I walk away, you take off running and come right after me. It's what you do and I don't deserve you._

Crossing the room, she catches his eye and neither of them looks away even as she comes to stand directly in front of him. Without being asked, John steps aside to allow her to look Oliver over. She methodically unzips his jacket, carefully helping him pull his arms free before she skims her hands over his broad chest. The lines and definition of muscle beneath her fingers are familiar. When she gently prods the bruised skin at his hip just above the waistband of his pants, he sucks in a sharp breath. She remains silent as she works to remove the leather encasing the lower half of his body. The need to exchange words has long since faded between them. She knows that she doesn't need to vocalize her fears, her worries, every time he puts on his hood. He understands. He understands that she doesn't want to exist without him and that every time they are faced with a new adversary, her mind goes into overdrive imagining all of the horrible things that could happen to him.

When he is left in only his briefs sitting atop the med table, she turns away from him to find the necessary supplies in the cabinet. She fights to control her shaking hands, praying he won't see the outward signs of her fear. The urge to beg him to stop suddenly consumes her and she closes her eyes tight while biting her tongue. There are tears threatening to spill from her eyes but she holds them off. She has never asked him to quit and she never will. It is moments like this one where she is forced to be selfless. She knows that Starling City wouldn't be the place that it is today if not for the work of the vigilante, if not for Oliver and his mission. She knows that what he is doing, he's doing for the good of everyone. It isn't a selfish act. But right then she wants to be selfish. She wants to throw herself into his arms and plead with him to stay with her.

_You're the light inside my eyes. You give me reason to keep trying. You give me more than I could dream and you bring me to my knees, you bring me to my knees. Your heart was golden how am I the one that you've chosen to love? I still can't believe that you're right next to me after all that I've done._

"Felicity."

The way he says her name still causes goose bumps to break out across her bare arms. He can always sense when something is bothering her, it has been a gift at times and a curse. She can feel his eyes on her back and she remains where she is, turned away from him, until she is certain that she will not cave to her desire.

"I'm okay."

His soft assurance breaks the dam and when she spins around, her face is damp. He reaches for her and she goes to him willingly. His strong arms cradle her against his hard chest as she shakes with silent sobs. She isn't quite sure why she is having such a strong reaction to this particular incident. He has sustained much more life threatening injuries in the past. She has had his blood on her hands on more than one occasion. But something about seeing John half carrying him into the foundry tonight has pushed her to the brink.

_I don't deserve a chance like this. I don't deserve a love that gives me everything. You're everything I want._

He strokes his hand over her head and down her back, his lips pressing gently at her temple, and she knows that he is only trying to soothe her but his actions cause her tears to fall faster. She cannot lose this. She cannot lose him. She has tried to remain strong for him. She still believes in him, encourages him when he needs her to, but she cannot bear to watch him put his life on the line night after night. Not now. Not now that they have two little girls who deserve to grow up with their father. She wants her daughters to have the one thing that she did not as a child, a stable family, parents who love them. She knows that if something were to happen to him, nothing would ever be the same. She would never be the same.

He tightens his arms around her just as Madeline begins to cry from her playpen. She sighs and withdraws from his embrace to go and comfort their baby. But his hand on her elbow stops her. She lifts her tear filled eyes to his and when she sees the determined look in his eyes, her heart erupts. He doesn't have to say the words for her to know what he is telling her. It's over. He's finished. He's going to step aside and let Roy continue their fight. For a moment she cannot move, cannot breathe, with the sense of relief that rushes over her. And then Madeline's cries grow louder, breaking the calm that had settled over her and she goes to retrieve their little girl.

_I don't deserve your love but you give it to me anyway. Can't get enough, you're everything I need. And when I walk away, you take off running and come right after me. It's what you do and I don't deserve you._

She lifts Madeline in her arms and settles her on her shoulder before turning back to him. She is surprised to find him right behind her, his feet bare on the concrete floor, naked save for the briefs he wears. He lifts one hand to Madeline's face and she coos softly, falling back to sleep almost immediately under his gentle touch. She watches him intently, watches his expression as he stares down at their daughter. They have come so far, farther than she truly thought possible, and she is thankful every moment of every day that she has him. Their family is the most important thing in the world to her and even though she would do anything for her children, even though they are her life now, the man standing beside her is the other half of her. She cannot lose him and for the first time in ten years, she knows that he will be safe. He isn't going anywhere.

_And I don't deserve you._


	5. Chapter 5 - Felicity

**A/N:** Okay so back in the first chapter of this, I made mention of a incident that propelled Oliver and Felicity together and this is that incident so don't worry, this is sort of a prologue to this story. They're not yet married.

**Never Stop**

_Where have all the good men gone and where have all the gods? Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need._

She doesn't think before she acts, she simply does the only thing that she can to protect the other woman being held hostage at Starling National Bank. She throws herself in front of her, in front of the bullet that cuts through the air, and she gasps as the pain explodes in her chest. The cold marble floor rushes up to meet her. Her head collides with the hard surface and she is suddenly seeing stars, the pain in her chest only amplified by the pain in her head. Someone is screaming. She isn't sure who, possibly the bank teller whose life she has just saved but she can't be sure. She can't be sure of anything but the agony surging through her has clouded her vision.

It isn't supposed to end like this. That is all she can think as she lies in the ever-expanding pool of blood. She isn't supposed to die this way. She is supposed to grow old, grow up, and die peacefully in the arms of the person she loves most in the world. Before she can do anything to stop it, Oliver's voice is filling her head. He begs her to hold on. To wait for him. But she knows that the voice that she hears is a figment of her imagination. He isn't here with her. He doesn't even know where she is. At least she doesn't think that he does. The last time that she saw him, he was leaving Queen Consolidated to have lunch with Sara. That had been hours ago. She doesn't know if he has even noticed her absence, if he and Diggle are even looking for her. She can't be sure because he hasn't been himself for the last few weeks. He's been distracted by his undefined relationship with Sara and by the fact that he is once again the CEO of his family's company. Slade is gone, although they all know that that could change at any moment, and Isabel is dead so Queen Consolidated has been rightfully returned to him. It has only been six months since they'd fought him, since they'd nearly lost their lives, but so much has changed.

_I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero until the end of the night. He's gotta be strong. He's gotta be fast and he's gotta be larger than life._

She hears commotion coming at her from all sides and suddenly there is a flurry of activity in the bank. More gunshots are fired. Shouts echo off of every surface. She curls in on herself to protect her already injured body and feels hot tears as they scald down her cheeks. She wants Oliver. She wants him to be there with her. She wishes that he would hold her in his arms and cradle her against him until it is all over. She needs him to be her hero just one more time. She needs him to come and save the innocent people that will more than likely die here without him. She doesn't think that she is going to survive. She has a feeling in the pit of her stomach that this is the end of her very short life and she wants to sob.

There is so much that she hasn't done. So much that she has left to do. She wanted to be married. She wanted to have a family. She wanted to have all of the things that she never had as a child. The closest that she has come to a stable family is their team. Oliver and John and Roy and Sara. They are her family and she isn't going to get the chance to say goodbye to them. She won't get to tell John that he is the only brother that she has ever had and that she loves him so, so much. She needs to tell Roy that he is one of the good guys, no matter what he's done in his past, and that she believes in him. And Sara. She wants to tell Sara that she deserves to be happy again and that, if she really, truly wants to, she can change. She still has some good in her.

_Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasies, somewhere just beyond my reach there's someone reaching back for me. Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat, isn't there a superman to sweep me off my feet? _

Her tears fall faster as she thinks of him and all of the things that she has never said. She can only hope that he knows that she loves him. She has tried to fight the way that she feels, has tried to tell herself that having feelings for him would pass, but the longer that she is with him, the harder she falls. She has fallen in love with Oliver Queen and he will never know. She wants so desperately to tell him.

An odd silence settles over the room. It is over. She cannot open her eyes but the ringing in her ears only grows louder and she knows that she isn't going to recover. The searing pain caused by the bullet that pierced her chest has gone numb, her body going into shock as it prepares to shut down. She takes a breath, slow and steady, and tries to tell herself that it's okay. That it's okay to let go. She doesn't have to hold on because no one is coming. They don't even know that she's missing. They don't know that the bank that she'd walked into on her lunch break was being robbed. He isn't coming for her.

_I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero until the end of the night. He's gotta be strong. He's gotta be fast and he's gotta be larger than life. Up where the mountains meet the heavens above. Up where the lightening splits the sea. I cold swear that there's someone somewhere watching me. _

"Felicity!"

She hears his panicked cry, hears the terror in his voice, but she doesn't open her eyes because she knows that it isn't real. It can't be real because she is prepared to die.

Gloved hands touch her face, stroking her cheek, encouraging her to look at him. She almost can't believe it. Has he really come for her? Is he really there? Opening her eyes is a struggle. The life is slowly leaving her and her body feels heavy. When she is shifted so that she is lying on her back, she cries out in pain, her eyes flying open and she finds him kneeling beside her. His blue eyes are wide with fear, his face stricken, and she knows how awful she must look.

"Please. Please, Felicity, stay with me."

_I'll meet a hero and then we'll dance til the morning light. Dreaming he'll lead me, held tight tonight's the night. I'll meet a hero._ _I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero until the end of the night. He's gotta be strong. He's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight._

Tears leak from the corners of her eyes. He bends over her, pressing his forehead to hers, and she forces the words past her dry lips. She has to tell him now before it's too late. If she tells him, it is one less thing she will die regretting.

"Oliver, I – I love you."

He inhales sharply and she is almost certain that she hears a sob escape him. Her eyes close, that leaden feeling settling over her again, only now her heart feels a little lighter. She will die and he will know that she loved him. She knows that he is lifting her, that he has her cradled against his chest just like she wanted, but she cannot feel anything beyond the brush of his lips across her forehead. She is on the cusp of unconsciousness, can feel it pulling at her, when his whispered words meet her ears.

"I love you, Felicity. Please stay with me. Please."

_I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light. He's gotta be sure, he's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life, larger than life._


	6. Chapter 6 - Oliver

A/N: Apparently the sap in me is in rare form tonight. I don't know if this is even… I don't know. I feel like this could be totally OOC for Oliver but I just couldn't get it out of my head. Anyway, please let me know if you all think I'm nuts for writing this one. Also, disclaimer, but I do not in any way own Arrow or the song "Something I Need" by One Republic. Oh, and for anyone wondering, the song in the last chapter is "Holding Out for Hero". If you aren't a fan of the original Bonnie Tyler version, check out the version by Ella Mae Bowen which is the one that actually inspired that chapter. OK, man, I'm done now, sorry! Read on dear people, read on!

**Never Stop**

_I had a dream the other night. 'Bout how we only get one life. Woke me up right after two. I stayed awake and stared at you so I wouldn't lose my mind._

He has asked her to marry him three times. Three times she has pretended as if she hadn't heard him. The first time he asked they had been sitting beside one another in the booth at Big Belly Burger. Diggle and a very pregnant Lyla sitting across from them. It was a common occurrence, the four of them having dinner together. More and more they had become a 'normal' couple. They went to dinner and the movies. They held hands as they walked down the streets of their city. They said goodbye on her doorstep. Their evening jobs as the Arrow and his girl Wednesday are simply a part of their relationship. He had feared that what he chose to do, the mission he continued on night after night, would destroy her. He'd been afraid that the bright light that shown out of her from the moment that they'd met would be extinguished the longer that she was with him. He'd worried that he would be the reason that she was unhappy.

What he hadn't been prepared for was how much lighter his own existence would be with her in his world. Even before the night that he'd nearly lost her in the bank, even before Slade Wilson had come back into his life hell-bent on taking away everything that he loved, he had known that she was changing him. But it wasn't because she wanted him to change, it hadn't been because she had asked him to. No, it had simply been his heart's reaction to the good in her. He had been slowly experiencing an emotional metamorphosis since the day that her beautiful blue eyes had looked up at him from behind her desk. It hadn't taken him long to realize what having her around was doing to him but it had certainly taken him long enough to admit it.

_And I had the week that came from hell and yes, I know that you could tell. But you're like the net under the ledge. When I go flying off the edge, you go flying off as well. And if you only die once, I wanna die with…_

The night that he proposes for the first time while the four of them are dining at their regular spot, he asks her in such an off-the-cuff way that she probably thinks that he's joking. She blushes slightly under his gaze before she rolls her eyes and continues on with her conversation with Lyla. He hadn't known then that the words were going to escape him. He hadn't planned them. He'd been sitting there beside her, their thighs touching beneath the table, watching as she babbled on about babies and baby names and how small children frightened her and something inside of him had simply clicked. They had only been in their relationship, this new intimate part of it, for a little over three months but he's been in love with her for almost four years and he knows that she is the woman that he will spend forever with. She is the only person who knows and accepts all of him and he needs her with him.

_You got something I need. In this world full of people, there's one killing me. And if we only die once, I wanna die with you. _

He is out in the field with Diggle the second time the question escapes him. They have been out for hours in the cold rain chasing down a lead that will, in time, allow them to break up a human trafficking ring that has made its way into Starling City. It is late, or early as she likes to remind them, and they are finally giving up and when she tells him that it is time to come home, he asks her again to be his wife. He knows full well that she heard him over the comms. He hears Digg clear his throat in response to being privy to his proposal but Felicity's next words have nothing to do with answering him and everything to do with another young woman who has been abducted by their current target. He sighs and lets go of the fact that twice she has essentially turned him down.

The third time the question comes they are sitting in his office at Queen Consolidated. Nearly a year after Isabel Rochev helped Slade take the company away from him, he has finally resumed his place as CEO of his family's company. And he knows with absolute certainty that he couldn't have done it without her. She is sitting across from him, his desk separating them, taking notes on the conversation that he is in the midst of with the new director of the Applied Sciences division but he is hardly listening to the other man. He is watching her electric blue fingernails as she taps on the screen of her tablet. He says her name in the middle of whatever Harry Fitzgerald is saying, effectively cutting off the conversation, and her head snaps up. She looks at him in total confusion, clearly trying to figure out what she's done wrong, and once again the words flow from his mouth. She casts a startled glance at Fitzgerald before opening her mouth and closing it again. Her face flushes bright red and her suddenly downcast eyes are the only answer that he receives. Fitzgerald clears his throat uncomfortably and continues when she remains silent.

_Last night I think I drank too much. Call it our temporary crutch. With broken words, I tried to say 'Honey, don't you be afraid. If we got nothing, we got us.' And if you only die once, I wanna die with…_

Now he is wide awake and staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. She is curled up beside him, her head on his shoulder, one arm slung across his chest. He'd removed her glasses and set them on the side table the moment he realized that she was asleep but he hasn't been able to join her. In two months he has asked this woman to be his wife three times and each time she has essentially turned him down. He doesn't know if it is because she is afraid they are moving too fast or if it's something else. It has only been five months since she'd been held hostage and then nearly died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Five months that have brought them closer. Five months that have only helped solidify for him that she is the one person in the world who has everything that he needs. She is the half of him that has been missing for so long and now that he's found her, he has no intention of letting her go.

He lies awake for hours, his mind turning over the hundreds of different ways that he can ask her to marry him but he can't be sure that she will ever be ready to say yes. He thinks of the delicate ring that sits in the safe that he had installed in their new lair – her word, not his – and imagines sliding it onto her finger. He won't be able to tell her that he purchased the ring just two weeks after she'd been shot. He won't tell her that he had wanted to ask her then if only to reassure himself that she was really still there, that he hadn't lost her. An uncomfortable ache settles in his chest as he thinks of that ring and all that it symbolizes. Unity, commitment, love. And the ache isn't there because he doesn't want those things. It is there because he longs for them desperately.

"Oliver?"

She blinks up at him sleepily, canting her head in that questioning way that is so familiar. He smiles and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I can't live without you."

_I know that we're not the same but I'm so damn glad that we made it to this time, this time now. You got something I need. Yeah in this world full of people, there's one killing me and if we only die once, I wanna die with you._

The confession is soft, barely a whisper, but he knows that she hears him because her expression softens. She presses her lips gently to the tattoo just above his heart and he wonders if she can hear how it thunders in his chest.

"I don't want to live without you, Felicity. I love you. Will you marry me?"

_You've got something I need. Yeah in this world full of people, there's one killing me. And if we only die once, I wanna die with you. _

This time she does not pretend not to have heard him. This time a smile graces her lips and tears shine in her eyes. He is holding his breath as he waits for her to give him an answer. When a single tear falls, sliding down her cheek and landing silently on his bare chest, she lifts her hand to his face and cups his jaw.

"I don't want to live without you, either. Yes, Oliver, I'll marry you."

She presses her lips firmly to his and all of the love and longing that have filled him since the moment that she walked into his life explode inside of him. He feels more of her tears as they fall, tastes the salt of them as he continues to kiss her, and suddenly he realizes that they aren't simply her tears that are falling. He realizes that his own eyes are wet because a happiness that he has never felt before, believed that he never would feel, is swelling in his chest. He knows that for the rest of his life he will fight for her, for what they have, for the future that they have yet to build, because he knows that she is the only person that he will ever truly need.

_If we only live once, I wanna live with you._


	7. Chapter 7 - Oliver

**A/N:** Hi there! Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review, they are greatly appreciated! Also, to anyone who is still reading this – reviews or no – you guys are awesome! The song in this one is "When I Look at You" by Miley Cyrus.

**Never Stop**

_Everybody needs inspiration. Everybody needs a song. A beautiful melody. When the nights are long. Cause there is no guarantee that this life is easy._

Normal. It is the only way that he can describe the kind of life that he so badly craves. It is a life, however, that is completely out of reach. He knows this because he will not give up his mission. He will not fail his city as so many others have. And he knows that the only way that he will ever have a normal life is if he were to hang up his bow and take off his hood. But he can't do either. Not yet. Not now. Maybe someday.

Maybe someday he will believe that they are safe. And maybe one day they really will be but that day is not today.

Today he is still the Arrow and she is still his Girl Wednesday (and yes, he is well aware that it's Friday) and together with their team they are still fighting a war for the citizens of Starling City. She is still the guiding voice in his ear night after night. She remains the voice of reason, the heart of their team and his subconscious.

_Yeah when my world is falling apart. When there's no light to break up the dark, that's when I look at you. When the waves are flooding the shore and I can't find my way home anymore, that's when I – I look at you. When I look at you._

When he returns to their new location, the place that they were forced to move to after Slade and Isabel had compromised the foundry, he pauses as he descends the stairs.

The sight of her blonde hair doesn't surprise him. It is the dark haired woman at her side that causes his steps to falter. They haven't told anyone, no one beyond Roy and Diggle and Felicity and himself, where they've relocated to so finding Laurel there with Felicity jars him. They are in the midst of a conversation, about what he can't be sure, but he sees the relaxed set of Felicity's shoulders and the slight flush on her cheeks and he is fairly certain that they aren't talking about their current target.  
He stays where he is for a long moment and continues to observe the two very different women before him. She is talking with her hands, a habit that she will never be able to break, and the light glints off of the diamond and emerald ring that he slipped onto her right hand just a handful of days ago. He sees Laurel's face the moment that she recognizes the ring for what it is. An expression he cannot identify appears there and he knows that Felicity catches it, too, because she immediately drops her hand.

He decides then that it's time to approach them and he makes his way down the stairs. They both turn when he purposely makes enough noise to let them know that they are not alone.

Her face lights up at the sight of him, relief evident in her expression. He steps to her side and wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him and dropping a kiss to the top of her head. He feels Laurel's eyes on him the whole time, knows that she's surprised by his display of affection, but he doesn't mind. Not many people are aware of their relationship because they've chosen not to share it with everyone. Diggle and Roy know, of course, because they spend a ridiculous amount of time together and while Laurel doesn't know, her father does. Not that they offered the information to him freely but he'd figured it out on his own.

_I see forgiveness. I see the truth. You love me for who I am. Like the stars hold the moon. Right there where they belong. And I know I'm not alone. _

Felicity mutters something about ordering dinner for the group of them before she pulls away from him. He squeezes her hand before she gets too far. She turns back, pressing up on her toes to kiss him briefly and then makes herself scarce.

When he and Laurel are alone, words fail him.

They haven't been as close in the last year as they'd once been. In the twelve - almost thirteen - months since Slade had kidnapped her and tried to use her against him, they've drifted apart. He knows that the rift between them is mostly his doing. The reality of it was, Slade had been wrong when he'd taken Laurel, when he had assumed that she was still the woman that he loved. He'd been wrong and it hadn't been until he'd say those words to Felicity that night in his family's abandoned home that he'd realized how much she really meant to him. He had pushed her away, had been pushing her away for months, but when they'd concocted their plan to let Slade believe that it was really Felicity that he should've taken, he had finally understood that what he felt for Laurel couldn't compare to what he felt for Felicity. He did love Laurel - then and now - but what he felt for her just wasn't the same.

_Yeah when my world is falling apart. When there's no light to break up the dark, that's when I look at you. When the waves are flooding the shore and I can't find my way home anymore, that's when I – I look at you. When I look at you._

It had taken ten months after the night that he'd told Felicity he loved her for him to repeat the words. It had taken nearly losing her - again - for him to realize that keeping her at bay wasn't worth it. He needed her, still needs her, and he'd decided a long time ago that having Laurel in his life wasn't a necessity, not like it was with Felicity. That wasn't to say that he didn't want her as a friend, as an ally in his crusade. He still cares for her. He still loves her in a way but there is no comparing her to the woman that he intends to marry.

"Congratulations, Oliver. I guess I didn't think that you'd ever get married. You never seemed interested before."

There is no bitterness in her tone, only sincerity and maybe a little bit of melancholy.

He shrugs, "Things change. I've changed."

She doesn't argue but he can see the flood of emotions that pass through her. He knows that things between them could've ended up very differently. He knows that she could've been his wife but that had been before. Before the Queen's Gambit. Before the island. Before Sara and Slade and Shado and the Arrow. He had been a different person when he'd left on his father's yacht. He had been young and selfish. He had been stupid and immature. And had he never gotten on that boat, he probably would've married Laurel. He would've married her but he would've been unhappy. He would've continued to cheat on her with Sara and any other woman that interested him, because he'd been too reckless to actually respect her and love her the way that she deserved. He would've put on a show for everyone, would've worn a mask to hide how miserable he truly was.

Because he had never wanted the life that Laurel wanted them to have. She had dreams of being the perfect daughter, of having the perfect job and the perfect husband and the perfect home. But he hadn't wanted to be a part of that world. All he had ever wanted was to escape the life that his parents had planned for him. He hadn't wanted the responsibility that came with being an adult. He hadn't wanted to feel the pressure that she put on him to get a real job, to go to college, to become the man that she wanted him to be.

With Felicity, there is no pressure. She has never asked him to be anyone other than who he is. She knows that he is going to make mistakes, that he isn't ever going to be perfect and she accepts him anyway. She accepts him and she stands up for him and when he doesn't think that he is doing the right thing, she holds him up. Felicity is one of the strongest people that he has ever known and even though the strength that she possesses isn't necessarily physical, he is still amazed by her.

_You appear just like a dream to me, just like kaleidoscope colors that cover me, all I need every breath that I breathe. Don't you know you're beautiful._

Her hand is suddenly on his arm, squeezing gently, and when he looks up at her, she is smiling. She hugs him briefly and brushes her lips over his cheek.

"I'm really glad that you're happy, Ollie. I can see it. I can see it in your eyes right now. She makes you happy."

He can't find the right words to tell her that she's right but wrong at the same time. He is happy but the word doesn't feel adequate to describe how he truly feels with Felicity at his side. Ecstatic. Overjoyed. Humbled. Blessed. Lucky. No matter what word he tries to tie to the feelings that she brings out in him, none of them comes close to being strong enough.

Laurel turns away from him as she returns to the room. She pauses a few feet from them, her eyes traveling between them. He can see discomfort in her stance now, uncertainty, and he reaches his hand out for her. She joins him, pressing her lithe body to his side, staking her claim. He can't help the small smile that forms on his lips. He can't help but feel a weight lift from him simply because she is with him again.

_When the waves are flooding the shore and I can't find my way home anymore, that's when I – I look at you. I look at you._

"I'm happy for you," Laurel tells them, "Both of you. Congratulations, again."

And then just like that she's gone and he is alone with her. She tips her head back to look up at him. He looks down at her and smiles. Their lips meet briefly and, not for the first time, that overwhelming sense of relief that she brings him bursts in his chest. He knows that he doesn't need to say the words. He doesn't need to tell her because he has spent the past few months making sure that she knows but he cannot stop them from tumbling from his lips.

"Felicity Smoak, I love you."

She smiles against his mouth before sealing her lips over his yet again.

_You appear just like a dream to me._


	8. Chapter 8 - Felicity

**A/N: ** Alright, fair warning, I made myself cry writing this chapter. There is **MAJOR** character death in this chapter so prepare yourself now. Also, the timeline has jumped further into the future again, like same time frame as the first few chapters this time. As usual, I don't own the song "Drive Your Truck" by Lee Brice nor do I own any part of Arrow.

**Never Stop**

_Eighty-nine cents in the ashtray. Half empty bottle of Gatorade rolling in the floorboard. That dirty Braves cap on the dash. Dog tags hanging from the rearview. Old Skoal can and cowboy boots and a "Go Army" shirt folded in the back._

She finds him in the basement of Verdant, his back to a pillar, his head on his knees. It isn't as if she's never found him like this, as if she's never seen him broken, because in the decade that she's known him, they have been through so much. She'd used the tracking chip in his phone to locate him but when she'd realized that this is the place that he'd chosen to find solace, she hadn't been surprised. Though the club is technically theirs, it still belongs to the Queen family, they rarely spend any time there. Their basement lair had been long ago given up but the fact that he chose this place, this place where it all began, makes sense.

She sinks to the floor beside him but he doesn't lift his head. She can smell the alcohol on his breath but she cannot find it in her to reprimand him. Not today. Not today when he's lost a brother, a friend. Not today when she wants to drink with him to chase her own pain away. She moves as close to him as she can get, wrapping her arms around him awkwardly, as he lets out a strangled sob and his shoulders begin to shake. Eventually he drags her into the circle of his arms and when his face is buried against her neck, he falls apart.

_This thing burns gas like crazy. People got their ways of coping and I got mine. I drive your truck. I roll every window down. And I burn up every back road in this town. I find a field, I tear it up, till all the pain is a cloud of dust. Yeah, I drive your truck._

It takes everything in her not to break, not to let the misery that has been building inside of her come flooding out. She is in as much pain as he is. He was her friend, too, her brother and saying goodbye to him had never been part of the plan. But life was unexpected, unpredictable, and sooner or later it had to end. But they hadn't been prepared to lose him so soon and certainly not the way that they had.

She holds onto him tightly, whispering words of comfort into his hair as she has so many times in the past. His arms are like a vice around her and she knows that having her with him is a balm for the ache that he cannot escape. She fights to be strong for him, to remain his rock, but today she is struggling.

She knows that John wouldn't want to see either of them like this. He wouldn't want them to mourn for him because he had lived a long full life and even though it was over, and even though it had ended so suddenly, it had been a good life. But he's gone now and they have both lost someone they loved deeply. He was their brother. The brother that neither of them had thought that they wanted but wouldn't have given up for the world.

_I leave that radio playin' the same ole country station where you left it. Yeah, man, I crank it up. You'd probably punch my arm right now if you saw this tear rollin' down my face. Hey man, I'm trying to be tough._

She cannot help but think of Lyla and AJ and how heartbroken they must be. She knows that if their roles were reversed, if she were in Lyla's shoes, she wouldn't even know how to function, how to survive. Losing Oliver would be like losing a part of herself and even though she knows that someday in the future she will be forced to live without him - because no one lives forever - she cannot begin to fathom her world without him in it. She doesn't want to think about what raising their children alone would be like. She doesn't want to imagine how her daughters would turn out if they didn't have their father to support them. He is an amazing dad and their little girls adore him. She doesn't want to think about them growing up without him. Who would teach them to ride their bikes and go ice skating? Who would teach them to be brave and kind and fearless? She isn't strong enough to move on without him and, not for the first time, she says a silent prayer that she won't have to.

She immediately feels guilty for the way that her thoughts stray from John and linger on Oliver. John is gone, Lyla has lost her husband and AJ his father, and all she can think about is how losing Oliver would destroy her. She knows that she needs to be there for Lyla, that as her friend she needs to support her, but more than that she needs to let Oliver lean on her.

_And mama asked me this morning if I'd been by your grave but that flag of stone ain't where I feel you anyway. _

She is thankful that the last memory that she has of John Diggle is a happy one. It had been just two days before the accident that had taken him from them. Their families, the Diggles and the Queens, had spent a rare Sunday afternoon off, the seven of them joined by Roy and Sara, in their backyard. It had been one of the last warm days that they'd had before fall had settled over the city. The scene that had been playing on a loop in her mind for the last week was that of John chasing a squealing Madeline as she tottered across the yard. At just eighteen months, she was still struggling to walk let alone run but whenever her Uncle John was around, you would never know it. John would give chase and Maddy would run until he caught her, scooping her up in his big arms and swing her around in their air. He had loved her girls, just as she and Oliver loved AJ, and they had loved him desperately in return. She knows that Georgia understands that something is wrong, that something has upset her parents, but she is glad that Maddy is too young to realize what is happening to their family. She doesn't want them to ever forget their Uncle John but at the same time, she is glad that they are too young to really know the hurt that accompanies losing someone that you love.

"We'll get through this Oliver," she assures him softly, "He wouldn't want this. He wouldn't want you to hurt this way."

_I've cussed and prayed, I've said goodbye. I've shook my fist and asked God why. These days, when I'm missing you this much._

He doesn't lift his head from where his tears have dampened the skin of her neck. Instead, she feels the warmth of his breath as he speaks hoarsely.

"He loved you," he tells her, "And Georgia and Maddy. John loved you."

Tears burn her eyes and she swallows hard to rid herself of the sob that wants to escape her.

"He loved you, too, baby," she whispers, "He loved all of us, Oliver."

_I drive your truck. I roll every window down. And I burn up every back road in this town. I find a field, I tear it up, till all the pain is a cloud of dust. Yeah, I drive your truck._

The hold her has on her is almost painful but she knows that he needs her to remain in his arms. He needs her to be his anchor. Without her, he would most likely find himself pulled into the darkness.

"I never… I never told him that I –"

His voice cracks and the fissure in her heart is split wide open. She threads her fingers into his hair while scorching tears soak into the collar of her shirt.

"Oh, Oliver, he knew. John knew how much you loved him. It's okay, baby. You're going to be okay. We all are. It's okay."

_I drive your truck. I hope you don't mind. I hope you don't mind, I drive your truck._


	9. Chapter 9 - Oliver

**A/N:** Um, okay, first off, I didn't mean to use two Lee Brice songs in a row but I wrote that last chapter and while I was listening to "I Drive Your Truck", I remembered another Lee Brice song that struck me as very Olicity and very much this world that I've designed for them. So here's the new chapter. The song is "Hard to Love". Don't own it or Arrow. Also, this chapter is much more dialogue that what I've done previously but I don't think it's too much… let me know what you think please!

**Never Stop**

_I am insensitive. I have a tendency to the things that I need. Sometimes I drink too much. Sometimes I test your trust. Sometimes I don't know why you stay with me._

He stands on the fire escape outside of her window and watches her sleep. She'd left his side only a couple of hours ago, brushing her lips briefly with his and promising that she'd meet him at the alter the following afternoon. He had watched her go with the heavy weight of anticipation unfurling in the pit of his stomach. They are getting married. In less than twenty-four hours she will have his last name and he will wear her ring on his finger. The thought has had his heart hammering roughly in his chest from the moment that they said goodnight. He knows that its tradition for them to spend the night before their wedding apart and that, as her maid of honor, Sara had insisted that they respect that tradition, but he hasn't spent a night apart from her since she had almost died in his arms all those months ago.

He pulls the window open, frustrated that it isn't locked to begin with, and climbs smoothly into the room. He stills at the sound of a throat being cleared behind him. Turning, he isn't surprised to find Sara standing in the corner. Even in the darkness, he can see her smirking at him. She tips her head to the door, indicating that he should follow her, and he does. When they are in the hallway, she pulls the door to Felicity's room closed and leads him into the living room.

It is a weird feeling, following Sara away from the bedroom that he and Felicity share across their apartment. She drops onto their sofa and he sinks into the chair opposite her.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" he asks her.

She shrugs, "Because I know how you are with her. How she is with you. She wasn't happy when I suggested that you two spend the night apart. She may have even threatened to post fabricated photos of the Canary on the internet."

_I'm hard to love, hard to love. No I don't make it easy. Well I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. I'm hard to love, hard to love, and you say that you need me. Well I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, girl._

He laughs because that sounds just like Felicity. He knows that she wasn't happy with the idea of being without him, even if it was just for one night, because she'd mentioned it repeatedly at the rehearsal dinner. For some reason or another, though, he had agreed with Sara and Lyla. But the moment she had walked out of sight that evening, he'd regretted his decision. He hates putting any distance between them, whether it is for five hours or five minutes.

"Do you know how lucky you are, Ollie?" Sara asks.

He glances at her, his mirth dying at the seriousness of her tone. Her expression is bland but the emotion in her eyes gives her away. He knows that her relationship with Nyssa is rocky, that it has been for years, and for a moment he feels guilty about the way that he used her before. But he knows that she used him, too. They were both fucked up back then, still are to some degree, and they had been using one another to find relief from the pain that they were riddled with. For him, being with Sara had meant that the desire that he felt for Felicity could be kept at bay, that he could tell himself that it was simply a physical outlet that he needed, that it wasn't necessarily _her_. But he knows now that he'd only been lying to himself.

_I am a short fuse. I am a wrecking ball, crashing into your heart like I do. You're like a Sunday morning, full of grace and full of Jesus. And I wish that I could be more like you._

"I know."

She nods and looks away. Silence settles over them and he can see that she has more to say so he waits until she is ready. The feelings that he once had for her have long since faded and even before then, they couldn't compare to the desperation that he felt in his need for Felicity. She is his friend and he still cares for her deeply but there is nothing between them beyond that. Their history is just that, history. He is grateful, however, that she has remained in his life. The fact that she and Felicity are such close friends does still surprise him, though.

_I'm hard to love, hard to love. No I don't make it easy. Well I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. I'm hard to love, hard to love, and you say that you need me. Well I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, girl._

"When you came home from Lian Yu, did you - did you ever think that you'd find someone like her? That you could ever possibly love someone like Felicity?"

The question fills the space between them for a long moment before he can answer her. He tries to think of a way to vocalize all of the self-hate, self-doubt, that had filled him when he'd first come back from the island. He had done things that he wasn't proud of, had become a man that could hardly look at himself in the mirror, so of course he hadn't even imagined that someone like Felicity Smoak would walk into his life and change everything. But she had done just that. She had been the first person to make him smile upon his return. She hadn't been afraid of him. She'd stood up to him when very few people would. And she had always, always, been the bright light that guided him.

He knows that he hasn't made things easy for her. He knows that he is stubborn and can, at times, be an idiot. He is overbearing and overprotective and doesn't always have the patience that he should. But to her, it doesn't matter. It has never mattered. She has never walked away. She's threatened to and he knows that he would've deserved it if she had, but she is still with him.

_Girl you've given me a million second chances and I don't ever want to take you for granted. But I'm just a man. Yeah, I'm just a man._

"I still don't know that I believe it," he eventually tells Sara, "There are days when I wake up and she's lying beside me and I feel like I'm dreaming."

Over and over he has made the same mistakes. He has let women walk in and out of his life, women he knows aren't good for him, women he knows that he will only hurt. Even after he'd found her he'd continued to live his life as if he hadn't known that she was the only one who would ever stand by him. Laurel had been a goal, someone to fight for. Someone to survive for. But he had learned quickly that the woman he'd left behind had been a figment of his imagination. The woman that he'd come home to hadn't been anything like the young girl he'd said goodbye to on the docks that morning he'd boarded the Queen's Gambit. Helena had been a projection of himself. He'd seen someone that he could relate to, someone that he could help heal and who could possibly help heal him. But he had been blinded by what he'd wanted to see in her instead of what was right in front of him. McKenna was new. She was new and kind and forgiving and even though they had been acquaintances before he'd left for Lian Yu, being with her after coming home had been something entirely different. He'd thought that she saw him for something other than the playboy he'd once been. He hadn't realized right away that she still never saw him for who he really was.

_I'm hard to love, hard to love. No I don't make it easy. Well I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. I'm hard to love, hard to love, and you say that you need me. Well I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, girl._

Sara is smiling when he meets her eyes over the coffee table. The happiness that she feels for him, for Felicity, shines brightly in her otherwise pale eyes. It has been a long time since he's seen her without the hard set to her shoulders, without the cloud of anger and guilt and grief hanging over her. He knows that she doesn't love him any more than he loves her. They were never meant to be anything more than friends and they both know that now.

"She's very real, Ollie, and she loves you so much. Don't hurt her. For both of your sakes, do whatever you can not to hurt her. You deserve – probably more than anyone in this world – you deserve to be happy. Let her make you happy."

Her eyes flit to something over his shoulder and he knows without turning that Felicity is standing just in the threshold. Sara's smile only gets brighter.

"Guess keeping you two apart even for one night is impossible now. I'll go crash at Laurel's for tonight but I'll be back in the morning to help you get ready," she says this last part to Felicity as she gets to her feet.

He watches her cross the room and pull his fiancée into her arms. She whispers something in her hair but Felicity only nods.

_Hard to love, hard to love, no I don't make it easy and I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. I'm hard to love, hard to love, and you say that you need me. I don't deserve it but I love that you love me._

When Sara is gone and they are alone, she angles her head to one side, that curious, quizzical expression he's seen on her face so many times gracing her features. He knows that she is wondering why he's home, why he isn't sleeping at John's like he'd told her he would, but he doesn't have to ask her if she wants him to go. She holds her hand out to him, beckoning him to her, into her arms and into their bed. He doesn't hesitate for a moment to go to her.

Curled around her much smaller frame, he settles into the comfort that she exemplifies. His hold on her is possessive and protective and one that they are both familiar with. In this position that they find themselves in night after night, she burrows her nose into the hollow of his throat and before he even has time to really think anymore about why he couldn't stay away from her, sleep claims him.

_Hard to love, hard to love. You love me girl. You love me girl._


	10. Chapter 10 - Oliver

**A/N:** Hi there! So sorry for the exceptionally long delay on this chapter! I've been caught up in real life for a while and unfortunately, that meant putting Oliver and Felicity on the backburner. Anyhow, where they are I got a request for a follow-up scene to Felicity being shot in the bank so this is it. The song is "Start Again" by Red.

**Never Stop**

_And I remember everything, everything I loved. I gave it away like it wasn't enough. All the words I said and all you forgive. How could I hurt you again?_

He paces the floor of her room as he waits for her to wake up. He has prayed every day to a god that he doesn't really believe in that she will come back to him. He cannot lose her, not now, not when he has finally given in to the feelings that he has harbored for her for all of these years.

He had never meant for it to happen. He had never intended to fall in love with Felicity Smoak but he had known the first moment that he'd met her that it would be impossible. In retrospect, it hadn't taken long for the affection that he'd felt for her in the beginning to grow into a love so deep that it still frightened him. It was real, gut-wrenching, heart stopping love and the idea of needing someone so exponentially paralyzed him. He had realized quickly that keeping her away, hiding how he truly felt from her, would be the best thing for both of them. But he couldn't stay away from her. He needed her, still needs her, because it is her belief in him that keeps him going. And because without her, he knows that his heart will truly stop beating.

_What if I let you win? What if I make it right? What if I give it up? What if I want to try? What if you take a chance? What if I learn to love? What if, what if we start again?_

Lying in a hospital bed, wires and tubes attached in various places, she looks helpless, vulnerable, and seeing her that way tears him up inside. She is the strongest woman that he knows, the bravest, and the simple fact that he could really lose her makes his stomach roil.

_All this time I can make it right. With one more try, can we start again? In my eyes, you can see it now. Can we start again? Can we start again?_

He drops heavily into the chair positioned beside her bed. It has been four days. Four excruciating days. He hasn't left her side since the moment that she had been wheeled into the recovery room. She is hanging on, teetering on the edge, and the fact that her eyes have hardly opened does not make him feel better about her condition. Her doctors are certain that she will make a full recovery but as each day passes and her status doesn't change, his concern only increases. All he can do is sit with her and talk to her and beg her to wake up. He tells her he loves her, day after day, hour after hour. He repeats it like a mantra in the hope that, when she does finally open her beautiful blue eyes, she will know that it is true. That it has always been true.

The night that they took down Slade he hadn't lied to her. Slade _had _taken the wrong woman. He _had_ loved her then. But he hadn't been ready for what admitting the truth would mean for them and for their team. He hadn't been prepared for their entire relationship to change. And he had known that it would. But the words had slipped out and he hadn't exactly taken them back. He'd simply let her believe that it had all been a part of the ruse.

_Emptiness inside me, wonder if you see. It's my mistake and it's hurting me. I know where we've been, how'd we get so far? What if, what if we start again?_

They had talked about it, had discussed what they would do but never what would be said. It had been her idea. She'd volunteered to be the bait because it had been the only way that they could outsmart Slade. He had been reluctant to let it play out. Putting her in harm's way had never been a part of his plan.

_All this time, I can make it right. With one more try, can we start again? In my eyes, you can see it now. Can we start again? Can we start again?_

"Ollie?"

His head comes up at the sound of Sara's voice. She is standing in the doorway, a duffle bag slung over her shoulder and a cup of hot coffee in each hand. She comes to him, handing him the first cup and dropping the duffle bag before leaning against her hospital bed. She looks at him with understanding in her eyes. He knows that she knows. Sara has known all along that his heart belongs to the woman whose life is currently hanging in the balance. They don't have to talk about it. He doesn't need to explain anything to her.

"She's going to be okay."

He sighs, drags his fingers through his hair, and drops his eyes to the linoleum at his feet. He doesn't hear her leave. He wants to believe her, he has to, because the alternative is that the bright light that carries him through will be snuffed out and he will be surrounded once again by darkness. He has never feared anything more in his life.

_I'm lost inside the pain that I feel without you. I can't stop holding on, I need you with me. I'm caught inside the pain. Can we start again? I'm lost without you._

Three days later he is sitting beside her in clean clothes with a new companion and a fresh cup of coffee. John is sitting across from him, her prone form between them, and they have barely said two words to each other. He knows that John is like a brother to her, that the relationship that his two friends have is important to both of them, and he knows that John is just as afraid of losing their light as he is.

So when her eyes flutter open and her breath rushes out of her in a startled gasp, they are both on their feet looming over her. She casts a questioning look between them, her eyes speaking volumes as her voice is restricted by the intubation tube in her throat. John squeezes her right hand before telling them that he will find the doctor and disappearing into the hall.

He has difficulty finding his voice. He knows what he wants to say to her, what he has been saying to her all along, but the words are stuck in his throat. His eyes burn with unshed tears. He grasps her hand in his and clutches it with a wild desperation.

"I love you."

_One more try, can we start again? In my eyes, can you forgive me now? Can we start again? Can we start again?_

Her eyes widen in disbelief and he knows that she's trying to remember the details of what put her here. But beyond the confusion, there is no doubt. She knows that what he says is true. That he means every word but for some reason, he says it again. And again and again. He says it until the tears that he's held back since he'd found her begin to spill from his eyes, until the words are garbled and unrecognizable as he sobs his relief into her shoulder. He feels her fingers on the back of his head, combing through his hair, and the gesture only breaks him further.

She came back to him. She came back and he knows now that he will do everything in his power to keep her. He loves her and she knows. He is certain that she loves him, too.

_One more try, can we start again? Can we start again? Can you forgive me now? Can we start again?_


	11. Chapter 11 - Felicity

**A/N: **Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed! Knowing that you guys are enjoying this encourages me to keep going. As usual, I don't own Arrow or the song "Run" by Matt Nathanson. And please take note, this story is now rated M.

**Never Stop**

_I wanna watch you undress, I wanna watch you glow. Let your hair down, all around, cover us both. You come in waves, we crash and we roll. You surround me, pull me, drown me, swallow me whole._

She cannot take her eyes off of his face as he moves over her. Her fingers trace along his hairline, down his temples and cup his whiskered jaw. His skin is damp with sweat as is hers and when he smiles down at her with heavy-lidded eyes, she falls a little deeper in love with him.

_You turn, turn, turn, turning me on, like a slow fire burn, knows that its wrong. Still I run, run, run, run right into you. Yeah I run, run, run, run right into you._

The thrust of his hips where he is settled between her legs sparks a new flame inside of her. Her limbs are already heavy, weighted down by the first, spectacular orgasm that he'd wrung out of her. The second one that had almost immediately followed had left her dizzy. Now at a slower pace, no longer consumed by the immediate need for release, she savors each movement, each spark of pleasure as it races down her spine. He lowers his head and lets his lips caress her neck, her shoulder, the slope of her breasts. She has never felt so exponentially connected to another human being. And not only physically, but emotionally as well. She has never been with a man who has made her feel more loved than he has done tonight.

_You pull me in close. You buckle my knees. I shake and I shiver just to feel you breathe. You trace my likes, stirring my soul, shoot sparks at the heart of the world and I watch it explode._

It is still difficult for her to believe that this night is the first that they have spent this way. It has been more than three weeks since she'd woken in the hospital. Three weeks of a painful recovery and a slow transition between friendship and something so much more fulfilling. He'd told her he loved her, confessed it yet again, and even though she had known the night in the mansion that his words had been true, she hadn't allowed herself to hope that he would ever repeat them. But once he had, everything between them had changed. He'd changed in a way that she hadn't been prepared for. He was more protective of her, more concerned for her safety and well-being, but more than that he was suddenly more open with her.

His hand is on the back of her thigh, sliding down to her knee and hiking it up so that she is cradling his hips with her knees. This new angle allows him to thrust deeper, allows his pelvic bone to bump erotically against her clit as he moves faster. She gasps and keens and withers beneath him, her nerves suddenly on fire. Desire unfurls painfully in her belly and she braces her hands on his shoulders.

_You turn, turn, turn, turning me on, like a slow fire burn, knows that its wrong. Still I run, run, run, run right into you. Yeah I run, run, run, run right into you._

"Oliver…"

She knows that she won't be able to hold on much longer but she does what she can to fight off her impending release. She wants to be with him, wants to see his face when pleasure pulls him apart at the seams. Tightening her arms around his shoulders, she twists her fingers in the short hairs at the nape of his neck.

It is his turn to groan and he rests his forehead just beneath her chin, his lips moving over the scar that is a result of the bullet that had nearly taken her life and pressing a series of short kisses to the still tender skin. When he picks up his pace, when his thrusts become more brutal, she knows that he's close. She tugs on his hair, urging his head up so that she can find his lips with hers. His mouth is hungry and possessive and her muscles tense in preparation for the pleasure she knows is coming. He pulls back suddenly and grounds out her name between clenched teeth as his orgasm crashes through him. She clings to him, taking in the image of him with his head thrown back, the tense set of his shoulders, sweat dripping from his temples. In all of the time that she has known him, he has never looked more incredible than he does in that moment. And it is that image of him, drowning in pleasure, that forces her own body to fall off the cliff and chase after yet another mind-blowing orgasm.

_I'm amazing when you're beside me. I am so much more. And I feel your fingers, pound like thunder, I am so much more. So much more._

Her heart races in her chest as he collapses on top of her. His breath is warm on her neck, his damp skin sticking to hers, and as gross as it sounds, she revels in the way that it feels. The weight of his body presses her into the mattress beneath them and she is comforted by the way that he surrounds her. These moments, these times when it is just the two of them wrapped around one another, are the ones that she will forever cherish. The air around them is thick with the scent of them, of their love-making, mixed with cotton sheets and leather and the woodsy scent that emanates from his skin. She knows that this will be burned into her mind forever, that she will replay tonight over and over for the rest of her life, no matter where life takes them.

_You turn, turn, turn, turning me on, like a slow fire burn, knows that its wrong. Still I run, run, run, run right into you. Yeah I run, run, run, run right into you._

He lifts his head and brushes his hand across her forehead, removing the stray hair that is stuck there. His lips slant over hers, his kiss gentler now, and she sighs contentedly into his mouth.

_Turn, turn, turn, turning me on like a slow fire burn, know that its wrong. Still I run, run, run, run right into you. Yeah I run, run, run, run right into you. Still I run, run, run, run right back to you._

"I love you."

The words are a mere whisper but she hears them just the same. She wraps her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and holds him to her. She will not let him go. Not now.

"I love you, too, Oliver. I think – I think I always have."

_Turning me on… like a slow fire born._


	12. Chapter 12 - Oliver

**A/N:** Thanks again for all the reviews! I'm in a sappy mood tonight so here you go… fluff. Well, this whole thing is pretty fluffy so I suppose that isn't anything new… Anyhow, the song is "Hey Pretty Girl" by Kip Moore.

**Never Stop**

_Hey pretty girl, won't you look my way. Love's in the air tonight. You can bet you make this old boys day. Hey pretty girl, won't you look my way._

It's clichéd to even think it but he knows that it is true. Today is the best day of his life. It is the best day of his life _so far_ because he knows that his life with her will bring so many more incredible days. In the small handful of years that he has known her, she has turned his world upside down and brought in a light so bright that he often finds himself blinded by it. That is what everyone sees, what it is about her that draws all of them in. Sara and Roy and Quentin. Even John and Lyla. They all see her for what she is. An unending beacon of hope and goodness and purity. She possesses all of the qualities that they all need, the pieces of themselves that are missing.

_Hey pretty girl, can I have this dance? And the next one after that? Gonna make you mine, there's a real good chance. Hey pretty girl, can I have this dance?_

For so long she has been the other half of him, the better half. She is the hope to his doubt. She is the bubbly to his brooding. She is the laughter that tries to force him to stop sulking. And somehow, even when he had tried so hard not to let her, she'd worked her way beneath his skin and into his head and, most importantly, into his heart. He had fallen in love with her without even realizing it. It hadn't been until Slade had returned, until a real threat to her life had been presented, that the reality of his feelings came crashing down around him. Even when he'd been with Sara, when they'd been trying - for what felt like the millionth time - to have a real relationship, it had been his beautiful and disarming partner that he'd really been in love with.

He can't help but smile as he stares at the solid platinum band that now encircles the fourth finger of his left hand. It feels foreign, the piece of jewelry that she'd slipped onto his hand only a couple of hours ago. It will certainly take some getting used to. But he couldn't be happier. He knows what it signifies. He will forever remember the hushed, shaky voice she'd used as she'd repeated her vows. They are bound together now.

_Hey pretty girl, it feels so right, just like it's meant to be. All wrapped up in my arms so tight, hey pretty girl it feels so right._

The sound of his wife's laughter draws him from his ruminations. She is easily found in the crowd. The white of her dress stands out like the light at the end of a very long and very treacherous tunnel. A tunnel that he has spent years digging, fighting day in and day out to survive, to escape. She was waiting for him at the end of that tunnel. She's still there.

_Life's a long and winding ride. Better have the right one by your side. And happiness don't drag its feet. And time moves faster than you think._

"It'll sink in eventually."

He turns to find his best man standing beside him, his eighteen-month old son asleep on his shoulder. John's eyes shine with a happiness that he knows is meant for him and his beautiful wife. _Wife_. He will never tire of that word. He has only just been granted permission today to actually call her that but he thinks that he will forever find ways to work it into everyday conversation.

"When we met, did you ever believe that this would happen?"

His friend grins, "When I met you? No."

He tips his head toward the still giggling blonde surrounded by wedding guests.

"When I met her, man, I knew you were in for. It didn't take a genius to figure you two out."

_Hey pretty girl, wanna take you home. My momma's gonna love you. She'll make me sleep on the couch, I know. Hey pretty girl, wanna take you home. _

He can't help the chuckle that escapes him. He knows that his team, the whole lot of them, had been taking bets on when he would finally accept the reality that they were already privy to. John was right, it hadn't taken a genius to see what was developing between them. Just a street-smart teenager with a bad attitude, a trained assassin and a former Special Ops operative. The genius of their group had been just as oblivious to his feelings as he'd been.

He reaches out and runs a hand over A.J.'s head. Something in the pit of his stomach tightens as he stares at his godson. They've already talked about it, already decided that there would be no trying to get pregnant, no pressuring themselves into having a baby. They'd agreed to simply let nature run its course and, when they were meant to have a family, they would. But seeing her walking toward him in a wedding gown, her long blond hair tied off to one side, her eyes bright and full of tears, something inside of him had shifted. He wants a family now, as soon as possible, because the visions of her with their baby in her arms that have been filling his head are driving him crazy. There is something about the thought of their child growing inside of her that makes him insanely happy.

_Hey pretty girl let's build some dreams. And a house on a piece of land. We'll plant some roots and some apple trees. Hey pretty girl let's build some dreams. _

"You'll be great parents, Oliver."

His eyes snap to John's, realizing he's been caught, and he knows that his thoughts must've been clearly written on his face. He opens his mouth to respond but no words come out. Instead he shrugs and drops his hand. For a long moment, he is motionless as his heart pounds steadily in his chest. The thought of fatherhood, of raising a child of his own, a child of theirs, is exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time.

_Life's a long and winding ride. Better have the right one by your side. And happiness don't drag its feet. And time moves faster than you think._

A small hand settles on his forearm and he knows before he sees her that his wife is at his side. He lifts his eyes to meet hers. The smile that he's had on his face since the moment she'd stepped out of their house and onto the aisle runner in their backyard remains firmly in place. She returns his smile and tips her head to the dance floor, silently requesting that he accompany her.

_Hey pretty girl you did so good. Our baby's got your eyes. And a fighter's heart like I knew she would. Hey pretty girl, you did so good._

They sway to whatever song is playing around them. He doesn't hear the words but they don't matter, at least not in this moment. In this moment, all that he cares about is the feel of the woman in his arms. She is his and he is hers and no matter what the future holds for them, he has promised to never give up. He has promised to love her until death and he has every intention of keeping that promise.

Her head is on his chest, her ear pressed just above his heart, and he holds her tightly. Closing his eyes, he imagines what their life together will bring and it is easy to picture a little girl with golden curls and big blue eyes beaming up at him. She will be just as brilliant as her mother and just as beautiful. He will teach her to climb trees and build forts and maybe, someday, how to use a bow. He will teach her that she can be strong and brave and that just because she will be treated like a princess, she won't ever need someone to protect her. He will tell her stories of her mother's bravery, of her incredible strength, and he will encourage her to be just like her mother.

His face aches from smiling so much but when he gazes down at his wife with their future mapped out in his mind, he only smiles wider. She meets his gaze with a curious expression but he isn't ready to tell her what he's thinking so he simply kisses her instead.

His brain is full of clichés tonight because not only is today the best day of his life, he is the happiest man in the world. Or at least, he feels that way. He has a beautiful wife and a pretty damn good life and for the first time in a long time, there is nothing missing. He has everything that he needs and she is standing in the circle of his arms.

_Hey pretty girl when I see the light. And it's my time to go, gonna thank the lord for a real good life, a pretty little girl and beautiful wife._


	13. Chapter 13 - Oliver

A/N: Oh boy, where to start. First, this is total head cannon for Felicity. We don't know enough about her background so I made this part up. Shoot me. Second, the song is "Save Me From Myself" by Christina Aguilera. I think that this song is more from Felicity's POV and this chapter is from Oliver's but whatever. And lastly… I don't really know where this came from.

**Never Stop**

_It's not so easy loving me. It gets so complicated. All the things you've gotta be. Everything's changing but you're the truth. I'm amazed by all of your patience, everything I put you through._

The first time that he meets her mother, it is one hundred percent unplanned. She doesn't talk about her family, her childhood. What little he does know, he's found out from her rambling. He knows that her father left when she was young and that she'd grown up in Vegas but that's as much knowledge as he's been privileged to. So when her mother shows up unannounced at Queen Consolidated shortly after she is released from the hospital, he is just as stunned as she is.

She is sitting at her desk, her fingers moving much slower than normal over her keyboard. Her hair hangs loose around her shoulders, the blonde curls contrasting sharply to the dark blue silk blouse that she wears. He had had to help her dress, to button her blouse over the bandages on her chest. When her hands had begun to shake, he'd had to put her earrings in for her. He'd wanted to tell her that she wasn't ready, that she needed to stay home and recover, but the truth was, he wasn't ready.

_When I'm about to fall, somehow you're always waiting with you open arms to catch me. You're gonna save me from myself, from myself. Yes, you're gonna save me from myself._

He sighs, watching her through the glass wall that separates their offices as she pauses and lifts a hand to scratch gently around her bandages. Guilt tightens his chest as he stares at her. She never should've been in that bank. She should've been with him, she shouldn't have been alone. And even though she's told him time and time again that she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, he cannot get past the guilt that eats at him.

His eyes are still locked on her when the woman that he will shortly learn is her mother enters her office. She is beautiful, not much taller than her daughter, but the heels that she wears add a few inches. Her thick auburn hair is tied loosely at the nape of her neck, showing off tan skin and a lovely face. He doesn't see the similarities at first. What he does see is the way that she reacts to the other woman's presence. He sees her face the moment she realizes that she is not alone and when her mother speaks, he sees her head snap up. Her eyes are wide with shock and something akin to fear. He is on his feet in a heartbeat.

When he clears the doorway, he gets a better glimpse of the woman's face. His steps falter. He knows before she introduces herself that she is her mother.

"Mr. Queen, I've heard so much about you. I'm Lydia Feinstein, Felicity's mother."

_My love is tainted by your touch. Well some guys have shown me aces, but you've got that royal flush. I know it's crazy every day. Well tomorrow may be shaky but you never turn away._

He barely looks at the woman after he shakes her hand. His eyes are on her. Her cheeks are stained red, her eyes downcast, and he wonders what it is that she's embarrassed by. He steps around her desk and crouches down beside her just as she shoves to her feet.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

The use of her 'loud voice' surprises him. He could've guessed by how little she talks about her mother that they don't have the greatest relationship but her outburst is unexpected. He realizes quickly that he mistook her anger for embarrassment. He stands slowly, settling a hand at the small of her back for support. She is bristling, her hands clenched at her sides.

For her part, Lydia looks startled. She takes a step closer to her desk and he feels her back stiffen beneath his hand. He moves to put himself between them, his instinct to protect her kicking in.

Her mother opens her mouth but she cuts her off.

"Nine years, Mom! It's been nine years! How dare you show up here without having the courtesy to say, I don't know, pick up the phone and call me? What on earth made you think that was okay? You show up at my _job _after seven years of nothing!"

She is shaking, trembling, at his side and everything in him tells him to remove her from here, to take her away from this situation.

"I heard what happened and I… I just wanted to check on you."

He hears her sharp intake of breath just before her hand wraps around his forearm. She holds onto him desperately and when he looks down into her face, her eyes are filled with tears. He knows that they're angry tears but they affect him the same as they always have. He turns back to her mother.

"I think that you should leave."

He doesn't care that her mother seems offended by his suggestion. He doesn't care that she looks as if she wants to argue with him. The only thing that he cares about at the moment is her. It is clear that she isn't prepared for this, prepared for the arrival of a mother who had obviously not been good to her. The hand that she has placed on his arm is holding on so tightly that he thinks she could actually leave bruises. When he looks at her again, he can see that her chest is rising and falling rapidly and he belatedly wonders if she's have a panic attack.

"Go. Now, please."

His tone is harsh as he orders her mother out. She flinches at his tone, lifting her gaze to his as she opens her mouth to say something only to have words fail her. Since the moment that he met her she's had an affinity for rambling and this is the first time that he's seen her speechless. The reality of it frightens him. He doesn't know the extent of her relationship with her mother but he intends to find out.

_Don't ask me why I'm crying, cause when I start to crumble you know how to keep me smiling. You always save me from myself, from myself. You're gonna save me from myself._

Her mother takes a post-it and a pen from her desk and jots down what he imagines is a phone number, maybe the name of the hotel where she is staying, before she straightens and turns to go. He doesn't bother to watch her leave. Instead, he turns fully to face her and pulls her gently into the circle of his arms. He knows that if he jars her, he'll only cause her more pain, so he carefully sits in her chair and lowers her into his lap.

She curls into him as much as she can and he feels her deflate, feels the tension leave her in a rush. She is lax in his arms, her head pressed securely against the side of his neck.

"I'm sorry."

The words are whispered, barely a breath, and he tightens his hold on her. He won't ask what she is apologizing for because it isn't important. She has no reason to feel guilty but he suspects she is apologizing for her behavior as well as for her mother's unexpected visit. He wants to know what just happened, why she reacted so harshly to the woman who'd given birth to her, but he doesn't question her. They both have ghosts. He certainly isn't ready to share all of his with her so until she is ready to tell him, he will not push her. He owes her that much. When she starts speaking, his heart jolts in his chest and he holds his breath.

"I was seventeen the last time I saw her. She drove me to the airport. I was – I was going back east to finish my undergrad at MIT. She was arrested for armed robbery four days later. I didn't go home for her trial. I didn't even know that she'd been arrested until her lawyer called me and asked for money. She'd put me down as a reference."

A bitter taste floods his mouth. He wants nothing more than to protect her, to take away the bad memories that occupy her mind in that moment, but he knows that it is impossible. Her past is her past and it will stay with her. It doesn't make him love her any less. If anything, he can only admire how well-adjusted she is. How strong she's become.

_I know it's hard, it's hard, but you've broken all of my walls. You've been my strength, so strong_

"No one told me that she'd been released. Oliver, I don't want to see her. I don't – I can't let her be a part of my life."

She doesn't mean it. He can hear it in her voice. The statement lacks her usual conviction and he knows that she will forgive her mother for what she has done. She will forgive her when she's ready and she will let her back in. He won't tell her just yet that he thinks that she'll hate herself if she pushes her away. He doesn't tell her that he would give anything to have his mother back, no matter what horrible things that she'd done. But in the end, he doesn't need to say anything because she will come to the same conclusions on her own.

He presses his lips into her hair and she burrows into him further.

_And don't ask me why I love you. It's obvious your tenderness is what I need to make me a better woman to myself, to myself. You're gonna save me from myself._


	14. Chapter 14 - Felicity

**A/N:** Okay, so I hadn't really intended to write a second chapter today but I absolutely adore this song. It is "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran and if you haven't heard it, please go listen to it because it's awesome! Anywho, here's a new chapter. This one is super sappy because, of course, I'm just a giant sap. Enjoy!

**Never Stop**

_Settle down with me. Cover me up, cuddle me in. Lie down with me and hold me in your arms. Your hearts against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck. I'm falling for your eyes but they don't know it yet. Not a feeling I'd forget, I'm in love now._

They're moving slowly and gracefully around the small living room of their apartment. She is safely encompassed in his arms, her cheek resting just over his heart. One of his large hands is wrapped around hers, their joined hands resting in the miniscule space between their bodies. The other rests against the small of her back while her other arm cradles their newborn daughter to her chest.

She doesn't know what brought this on, why Oliver is suddenly wrapped around her and their baby girl but she won't voice a complaint. Georgia had woken up crying for her mother, hungry and in need of a clean diaper, and she had left him asleep in their bed. When she hadn't been able to get her daughter back to sleep, she had carried her down the hall to the living room and that was where he'd found them, swaying to the song that she'd been humming. The feel of his arms around her, of his warmth pressed against her from head to toe, makes her own eyes heavy as Georgia drifts off in her arms.

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved. You wanna be loved. This feels like falling in love, falling in love, falling in love. _

He leads her in a dance to a song that she cannot hear and she follows him as she always does. She has never been happier than she has been in her life with him. From the moment that they both realized that they loved one another, that they were ready to purse that love, she has been in a constant state of happiness. And it isn't that their lives are perfect. There were people who had tried to hurt them, who had tried to come between them, and there are certainly others who will continue to try. But they have found a way to stand strong. They've let their love for each other overrule everything else. It isn't always easy but it is always worth it.

When he takes Georgia from her arms, she doesn't question where he's taking her. Instead, she sits down on the sofa and waits for him to return from the nursery. He comes to sit beside her and without discussing it, they find themselves stretched out on their sides, her front to his. She rests her forehead against his and closes her eyes. There had been a close call earlier in the evening. He had come home injured, blood smeared across the front of his leather jacket, John supporting his weight as they'd descended the stairs. The sight of him hurt had sent her heart into overdrive but she had held it together. She had cleaned his wound and helped him into fresh clothes and she hadn't shed a tear. That had been in the lair with people watching, with Roy and John waiting for her to break down at the sight of her husband bleeding. She hadn't reacted because not ten feet from them, their infant daughter had slept through it all.

_Settle down with me and I'll be your safety if you'll be my lady. I was made to keep your body way but I'm cold as the wind blows so hold me in your arms. My hearts against your chest, your lips pressed to my neck. I'm falling for your eyes but they don't know it yet. With this feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now._

He stares at her with his brilliant blue eyes and she stares right back. She will never tire of looking at him. She will never get used to waking up with him at her side. The smile that she knows for certain he has reserved for her will never get old. From the first moment he'd walked into her office, from that very first introduction, he'd sparked a fire within her and over the years that fire has only grown hotter, brighter. She loves him with every ounce of herself. She loves every scar, every tattoo, every mistake and every fear. She knows every part of him and none of what she knows could make her love him any less.

He sighs, his warm breath ghosting over her face, and her eyes flutter closed. She is tired, so tired, and she is well aware of the fact that at just ten weeks old, Georgia isn't going to allow her the sleep that she so desperately needs. She knows that they should go to bed but she will not allow anything to pull her from her husband's arms. She needs this, needs him. She needs to know that he is still with her. His hold on her tightens and he nuzzles into her, pressing his nose into her neck and inhaling deeply. She buries her fingers in his hair, reveling in the way it feels just to be held by him.

"Are you happy?"

His question is asked softly, the words muffled against her skin. She smiles and combs her fingers through his hair gently.

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved. You wanna be loved. This feels like falling in love, falling in love, falling in love. _

"Absolutely. I have you and I have her. Oliver, I have everything that I've ever wanted."

He is quiet, the rise and fall of his chest moving her as he breathes, and she anchors herself to him while she waits for him to say something else. He still struggles with talking to her. He still fights expressing his feelings to her or to anymore but he is getting better. She knows that if she waits for him, he will eventually tell her how he feels.

"I keep falling in love with you. Every day, more and more, I just can't stop it. I keep falling in love with you, Felicity."

_Yeah I've been feeling everything from hate to love, from love to lust, from lust to truth, I guess that's how I know you. So hold you close to help you give it all. So kiss me like you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved. This feels like falling in love, falling in love, falling in love. _

She is surprised that his words don't bring tears to her eyes. Instead, goosebumps break out across her skin and that fire in her chest flares to life again. She throws her leg over his hips and draws his body closer. His head comes up, his lips find hers, and for the first time since giving birth to their daughter, she needs to feel his skin on hers.

Hands tug at clothes, lips clash, fingers skim and before she can catch her breath, he is burying himself inside of her. She cries out as pleasure races through her veins. His lips on hers are bruising and they find their rhythm, moving together until the ground is racing up to meet her and she falls over the edge. He slows his pace, savoring the moment and dragging out her pleasure all at the same time. She clings to him, breathing him in, her heart swelling with the love that she cannot stop feeling for him.

"Every day, Oliver, I fall in love with you more ever day. God, I love you."

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved. This feels like falling in love, falling in love, falling in love._


	15. Chapter 15 - Felicity

A/N: Gosh, I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of the reviews! I'm so glad that everyone seems to really love this story. I hadn't intended for it to go on this long but I will try to continue sharing these little bits of the life that I've imagined for them The song in this one is "Walk Me Down the Middle" by The Band Perry.

**Never Stop**

_I was meant to be by your side. And I have waited here a long time. For you to turn around and notice me. But now you're here, holding hands with me. _

She stares at her reflection and her heart thrums in her chest. It is a surreal moment. There hasn't been a day in her life when she has actually allowed herself to believe that this would happen to her. She knows that most women dream of marriage and a family and a happily-ever-after but she isn't most women. She has always been a realist where her future was concerned. She has had terrible luck with men, with love, until he'd walked into her life. Even then she hadn't allowed herself to dream that this is where they would end up.

A short knock on the door interrupts her musing and she turns to find Sara entering the room. Her friend looks beautiful in her bridesmaid dress, the emerald satin fitting her perfectly and bringing out the freckles along her bare shoulders. She smiles brightly and Sara returns it. Stepping fully into the room, she shuts the door behind her. They have formed an odd friendship over the course of the last few months, ever since Sara had returned from her second-stint with the League. She wasn't a permanent fixture in their lives, floating in and out when it was allowed, but they had only grown closer as time passed. And even though she had worried at first about how the other woman would react when she discovered that they were in a relationship, Sara had assured her that she had nothing to worry about. She had even laughed and told her that she had, more than once, tried to encourage him to pursue her.

_Walk me down the middle of the county fair. Walk me down the middle like you don't care. Walk me by the Ferris wheel and make sure that she sees. Let the whole world know, you belong to me. _

"Felicity, you look… you look amazing."

She immediately flushes and casts another glance at her reflection. The dress that she'd chosen was simple and elegant, nothing too lavish, but it hugs her curves in all of the right places and leaves her feeling more beautiful than she ever has before. Her hair has been pulled back into her signature ponytail after being curled and a few pieces have been left to frame her face. She can only hope he appreciates the affect as much as Sara seems to.

"Thank you. You too. That dress is absolutely perfect."

Sara laughs and spins a little for effect. The motion leaves her dizzy and for the first time, she realizes how incredibly nervous she is. Noticing the sudden distress that she cannot keep off of her face, her friend steps forward and takes both of her hands.

"Breathe, Felicity. It's going to be okay. It's going to be great. Just take a breath."

She feels a panic attack brewing but she follows Sara's instructions and soon enough, the room stops spinning. She swallows hard, forcing down the need to hack, and stares at the blonde in front of her.

"Better?"

She nods. She doesn't allow Sara to release her hands. She needs someone to support her, if only for a moment longer, and she is the closest thing that she has to a sister. Even though she had once been jealous of her assassin friend, even though there had been a brief period when she had really, really wanted to hate her, she trusts her with her life. Laurel is a different story but that relationship has slowly gotten better, too, and she can at least carry on a conversation with her future husband's former girlfriend.

_I've heard about your bitter end. 'Bout how she stole your heart and put it back again. Well I may not be the prettiest girl around but I sure am a sight for sore, sore eyes._

Another knock makes her jump and her eyes snap to the door as John appears there. He is grinning from ear to ear and the sight of him helps her relax. She takes a step away from Sara and toward her soon-to-be husband's best man. The same man who has agreed to walk her down the aisle. He envelopes her in his strong arms and she sighs, relieved.

"You nervous?"

His voice is teasing but she nods vehemently. She is absolutely terrified. Not of being married, not of saying 'I do' to her best friend, but of the crowd of people waiting to watch them exchange vows. She has never done well with large groups of people, they make her nervous, and everyone knows by now that when she's nervous, she rambles off about the most inappropriate things. She can only pray that that doesn't happen today. This day is too important for her lack of brain-to-mouth filter to ruin.

"Don't be. You're going to do great. But we need to go now. It's time."

_Walk me down the middle of Main Street. Walk me down where the whole town will be. I don't need no parade but make sure that she sees. Let the whole world know, you belong to me._

She lets John take one hand while Sara presses her bouquet into the other. Their small bridal party, minus her groom, exits the suite where she's been getting ready and heads for the backyard. She doesn't realize until their reach the stairs that she is shaking like a leaf. She rolls her eyes at herself and tightens her grasp on John's hand as he helps her navigate the steps without falling. Just before they reach the doors, her feet freeze and she cannot move. Sara continues without them, stepping out onto the aisle runner just as the music begins. She knows that she is next, that she needs to go, but her limbs don't want to cooperate.

There are roughly fifty people waiting for her to make her entrance, waiting for this wedding that they have been invited to to begin, and he is waiting for her to join him at the altar. She goes over in her mind the guest list, her heart racing as she remembers each of the RSVPs that they'd received. Detective Lance and Laurel. Roy and Sin. Barry and Iris. Her friends, their surrogate family, those are the names that she focuses on. She knows that Lyla is out there, too, with A.J. in her lap. She prays that Thea, as distant as she's been, at least showed up but she won't know until she actually makes herself cross the threshold and begin the journey toward her groom.

"Ready?"

She glances at John, thankful that he knows her so well, that he understands that she needs him at her side through this. She nods, tightening her grip once again, and allows him to lead her through the doors.

_I'd walk through fire for you. Walk through barbed wire for you. I'd walk for miles its true, just to be with you. _

She doesn't hear the music that plays. She doesn't notice the faces of her friends and family as they turn toward her. All she can see is him. Standing beneath the old oak tree in the backyard of the house that he'd grown up in, his suit jacket missing, shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows, Oliver's face is lit with a smile so bright that it brings tears to her eyes. She blinks them away, wanting to laugh at herself for crying, but all she can do is return his smile.

They had gone back and forth for weeks about where they would live after the wedding. When they had regained control of the Queen family estate all those months ago, she had suggested that they live in the mansion. It was his home after all and it had been empty for long enough. But he hadn't wanted to reclaim his family home. He hadn't wanted to be burdened by the memories that lingered in the walls. And when he'd told her that the house was simply too big, that he wanted somewhere smaller that felt more like it belonged to them, she had relented. So even though the house and the grounds were his, theirs, the Queen mansion will never truly be their home. That didn't mean that they couldn't use the opulent property as the setting for their wedding.

When she and John reach the altar, he steps forward and she hands her bouquet over to Sara. With both hands free, she reaches for him. She is still shaking, her body wound tight with nervous energy, and he smiles down at her when he feels her hands trembling in his. She grins.

"Hi."

"Hi."

For a long moment before the officiant begins the ceremony, they simply stare at one another. The last year has gone by so quickly and suddenly it all comes rushing to the forefront of her mind. She'd been shot, he'd admitted (again) that he loved her, he'd moved into her apartment, he'd proposed to her several times, she'd said yes and now, only eleven months later, they were getting married. To anyone else it would seem like a whirlwind affair but not many people were aware of the turbulent three years that had preceded their current relationship. John and Sara and Roy knew what it had been like for them, what they had been like, because they had been there from the beginning. Not that it matters either way.

All that matters is that he is hers and she is his and today, in front of their friends and family, they will promise forever to one another.

"We are gathered here today …"

_If you walk me down the middle of my momma's church. Walk me down that aisle in your finest shirt. Let the whole world know, you will walk me down the middle of the county fair. Walk me down the middle like you don't care. Walk me by the Ferris wheel and make sure they all see. Let the whole world know, you belong to me. You belong to me._


	16. Chapter 16 - Oliver

**A/N:** Okay so this may make me sound like a total stalker but I swear I'm not. I follow Stephen Amell on Facebook though and he posts all these great pictures of his little girl and of course, when I think of Oliver, I think of him so I just had to write an Oliver and his daughters chapter… anyhow, here it is. Oh, and there's a lot more dialogue in this chapter than any of the others. The song is "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw.

**Never Stop**

_Gotta hold on easy as I let you go. Gonna tell you how much I love you, though you think you already know. I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm. You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born._

"Daddy?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Where's momma?"

He sighs and shifts Madeline where she sits in his lap. He shouldn't be surprised by the question and, in truth, he isn't but he had hoped to get through one evening without his wife before his four-year old began asking questions.

"Momma's with Uncle Roy and Aunt Sara."

"Why?"

Gigi who is sitting beside him on the sofa grumbles at her little sister.

"Maddie, I'm trying to watch this. Be quiet."

He shushes his oldest daughter and hugs his youngest to his chest. He lowers his voice before answering her.

"Momma is working, honey. She'll be home in a couple of days."

_You're beautiful, baby, from the outside in. Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again. Go on, take on this whole world, but to me you know you'll always be, my little girl._

It isn't his ideal situation but they hadn't had much of an option. She had been needed at a remote location of the Applied Sciences Division and while he had initially decided that he would travel with her, she had quickly pointed out that that wouldn't work. Leaving Georgia and Madeline with anyone for three full days hadn't sat well with his wife. They had spent a night here and there with Lyla and A.J. but never any longer than that. And as protective of he was of his children, his wife had him beat in that area.

Less than an hour later, he carries Maddie down the hall to her bedroom and tucks her into bed. With her dark brown locks and hazel eyes, she looks more like her Aunt Thea than either of her parents. Shaking his head, he presses a kiss to her forehead before exiting her room.

He picks up the dolls and books that his little tornado has left scattered around the house, depositing them in the toy box in her playroom before dropping onto the sofa beside Gigi. She immediately curls up into his side, much like her mother, and he wraps his arm around her shoulders.

By the time the credits roll, she is sound asleep with her head on his chest. He strokes his fingers through her tangled curls as he considers carrying her to bed. Instead, he lets her be and looks around the home that they have made.

_When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone. Now look at you, I've turned around and you've almost grown. Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I love you" in the moonlight at your door. As I walk away, I hear you say, "Daddy, love you more."_

If someone had told him that this would be his life when he'd returned to Starling City all those years ago, he wouldn't have believed them. He couldn't have believed it then because he had only one goal in mind, to take care of the names on his father's list. He had been prepared to fight. He had even been prepared to die for his mission. What he hadn't been prepared for was the hurricane that was Felicity Smoak.

He had walked into her office that morning with no intention of ever seeing her again. He certainly hadn't expected to fall in love with her. He hadn't even wanted to be her friend. But something about her had drawn him in and he'd kept coming back. He hadn't been able to stay away.

His phone suddenly vibrates on the coffee table, skittering across the surface as he makes a grab for it. He cannot contain his grin when he sees her face on his screen.

_You're beautiful, baby, from the outside in. Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again. Go on, take on this whole world but to me you know you'll always be my little girl._

"Hi, sweetheart."

He shifts Gigi so that she's lying on the couch and moves away from her, stepping out onto the patio with the phone pressed to his ear.

"Hi. I didn't wake you, did I?" she asks.

Sitting on the porch swing, he closes his eyes and pictures her curled up in her hotel room in Lima as she talks to him.

"No, I was just sitting with Gigi, thinking about you. She's so much like you it isn't funny."

He can hear the smile in her voice, "I can't tell by that tone if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

They talk for a minute about the girls, about the homework that Gigi had brought home from school that he'd struggled to help her with. He tells her that Maddie has asked about her and that she misses her already. It still amazes him every day that their two wonderful little girls are actually his. He hadn't ever imagined being a father, had never actually thought that he would be any good at it, but he wouldn't exchange his family for the world.

"It's a great thing," he confirms, "I don't know how we got so lucky with them. They have their moments, don't get me wrong, but I – I can't imagine what our lives would be like if they weren't here."

He wishes that she were sitting beside him instead of in a hotel room a thousand miles away.

"You don't have to imagine it, baby. They're ours and they will be forever. Well, at least until their eighteen and then they're on their own."

He laughs with her before she changes the subject. He listens as she talks about her flight and about the argument that Roy and Sara had had over which of them was better suited to be her bodyguard and he can't help but laugh. Neither of them had been happy when he'd asked them to accompany his wife, if only for his piece of mind, but they had both agreed in the end when she'd (falsely) admitted that she wasn't comfortable going alone.

_Someday, some boy will come and ask me for you hand. But I won't say "yes" to him unless I know, he the half that makes you whole, he has a poet's soul, and the heart of a man's man. I know he'll say that he's in love but between you and me, he won't be good enough._

"I miss you," he tells her.

She has been away for less than twenty-four hours but his statement is true. He misses her desperately already. He misses her during the day at the office when she is working from home so that she can take care of Maddie. He misses her when he is out chasing down whatever criminal it is that they're hunting, even if they are only apart for a couple of hours. It doesn't matter if he is away from her for ten minutes or ten hours, she is so much a part of him that being separated from her for any amount of time is a form of torture.

He shakes his head and wonders briefly when he turned into such a sap. It must've been around the time that he'd realized that he loved her and it had only gotten worse as the years had passed.

"I miss you, too, Oliver. Let's hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow and if it does, I'll be home the day after."

He asks her what she thinks of Peru just to keep her talking because he isn't ready to say goodnight. He's tired and he knows that she must be, too, but he needs to hear her voice for just a little while longer. She humors him and gives him a detailed description of the hotel where they're staying before launching into an intricate explanation of the project that she's been asked to assist with. All of the technical jargon goes over his head but he doesn't bother to tell her that. She's rambling and he doesn't want to interrupt.

_You're beautiful, baby, from the outside in. Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again. Go on, take on this whole world, but to me you know you'll always be, my little girl._

"Why do you let me do that?" she asks a few minutes later, laughing at herself, "That story could've been much shorter if you'd just said something."

He shrugs even though she isn't there to see him.

"I love it when you ramble."

She sighs but he knows that she's smiling.

"I love you, Mrs. Queen."

She laughs, "I love you, too, Mr. Queen. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? I'm exhausted."

"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, sweetheart.

He heads back inside with the phone still pressed to his ear.

"Goodnight, Oliver. Love you."

"Love you, too."

He disconnects the call and stares at his phone for a long minute. He knows that she'll be fine, that neither Roy nor Sara will let anything happen to her, and that she'll be home in a couple of days. That knowledge doesn't stop the longing that lances through him but it helps him continue on as if it isn't there. He heads into the living room, turning off the television and facing Gigi where she is stretched out on the couch. He picks her up carefully, cradling her against his chest, and presses a kiss to the top of her head. When he lays her in her bed a minute later, he tucks her in and whispers in her ear.

"Love you, sweetheart."

She murmurs something unintelligible before rolling over. Even with her face in her pillow, he hears her sleepy reply.

"Love you, too, daddy."

_You're beautiful, baby, from the outside in. Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again. Go on, take on this whole world, but to me you know you'll always be, my little girl._


	17. Chapter 17 - Oliver

**A/N:** I didn't really mean for this to come out of my head but it did so yeah, here it is. Clearly I don't own "Arrow" nor do I own the song "Small Bump" by Ed Sheeran.

**Never Stop**

_You're just a small bump unborn, in four months you're brought to life. You might be left with my hair but you'll have your mother's eyes. I'll hold your body in my hands, as gentle as I can, but for now you're scan of my unmade plans. _

They are sitting at the kitchen table on a Saturday morning and he has lost count of how many mornings they have spent like this. Georgia sits beside her mother wearing the nightgown that she's slept in and eats a bowl of Lucky Charms, marshmallows first, of course. He sits opposite the two of them with Madeline's highchair pulled close so that he can spoon mashed bananas into her waiting mouth. She gurgles happily, her chubby fists swing around aimlessly and she nearly dislodges the spoon from his hand. Georgia's dirty blonde hair is a riot of curls on her head and she looks so much like his wife that the sight of them side by side makes him smile.

When he looks up at her, he's not surprised at the far off look in her eyes. Something has been bothering her for the last few days and while she has insisted that it's nothing, he knows her. He knows when she's lying like he knows when she's sad or angry or happy. Nearly a decade has passed between them and he's learned to read her the same way that she reads him.

_A small bump in four months you'll open your eyes._

"Do you ever wonder what he'd be like?"

His hand pauses halfway to Maddie's mouth and he blinks, completely confused. He scours his brain to figure out who she is talking about but when it finally hits him, the weight of it steals the air from his lungs.

They hadn't told anyone about the pregnancy and by the time that they'd been ready to, it had been too late. It had happened as all miscarriages do, unexpectedly and it – much like the pregnancy itself – had shocked them. They had only known for a couple of weeks that she was pregnant when she'd called him from the hospital. She had dropped Georgia off with the sitter and was on her way to the office when the cramping had started. By the time he'd gotten to her, their baby was gone and she'd been devastated. They hadn't been trying for another baby, Georgia hadn't even been a year old at the time, but the loss had affected them just the same.

_I'll hold you tightly, I'll give you nothing but truth. If you're not inside me, I'll put my future in you._

He hadn't realized that this was the week that their second child would've been due.

Maddie's shrill shriek breaks him out of his memory and he turns to her.

"You gotta put the spoon in her mouth, Daddy," Georgia provides.

He feeds a bite of banana to the baby before turning back to his wife.

_You are my one and only. You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight. Oh, you are my one and only. You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight. And you'll be alright._

"How do you know it would've been a boy?" he asks as lightly as possible.

She shrugs, "I just imagine that we would've gotten a boy to balance all of this out."

She waves her hand between the four of them and he gets what she's saying. He is clearly outnumbered in their house, like she is at the foundry. Not that he minds in the slightest. These three girls, his wife and their daughters, they are his world and no matter how many princess movies he has to watch or tea parties he has to attend, he wouldn't change it.

"He would've been just like you," she tells him, "Brave and strong and ornery. And he would've looked like you, too, with those eyes that I just can't say no to."

_Oh, you're just a small bump unknown, you'll grow into your skin. With a smile like hers and a dimple beneath your chin. Fingernails the size of half a grain of rice, and eyelids closed to be soon opened wide. A small bump, in four months you'll open your eyes._

He smirks when her cheeks flush. He's surprised to hear her talk about this. They haven't really discussed the miscarriage in the three years since it happened and even then, she'd been the logical one. She'd said that while there was no medical explanation for what happened, the timing hadn't been right and they hadn't been ready. He'd known then that she was putting on a façade for him and for Georgia because if she wasn't pretending to be strong, she would break. He'd tried to get her to talk to him, or to anyone, about what she was feeling but she'd refused. And while she had cried for the first couple of days, by the third she was back to her normal, bubbly self.

_And you can lie with me, with your tiny feet. When you're half asleep, I'll leave you be. Right in front of me for a couple weeks so I can keep you safe._

"We can still try for another one. We've got plenty of time."

She looks at him then, her eyes full of feigned annoyance.

"Stay away from me, Queen. I'm done being pregnant for a while."

He grins and she grins back. He doesn't tell her that he loves it when she's pregnant, that he loves the way her body changes when she's carrying their child. He doesn't tell her that it makes him feel even more proprietary towards her when her belly is swollen with a baby that they've made together. He certainly doesn't tell her that he might get a little proud each time she tells him that she's pregnant.

'_Cause you are my one and only. You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight. Oh, you are my one and only. You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight. And you'll be alright._

The sight of her smile makes his heart feel a little lighter. He hates seeing her upset, no matter the reason.

"I guess these two are a handful," he concedes.

Georgia looks up from her cereal and gives him a patented Felicity Smoak glare.

"Am not," she pouts.

They both laugh and he shakes his head because he knows full well that she doesn't really even know what he means.

He shrugs, "Okay so maybe we wait a few years before we have another one, that doesn't mean we can't keep practicing."

Her cheeks flush again but the smirk she gives him is salacious. They 'practice' all the time.

"Practice makes perfect!"

He chokes on a laugh at the look his wife gives his daughter. It is a saying that she's heard a million times over, in a completely different context, and the proud way in which she repeats it now is hysterical. When their eyes meet over the table, he can see that she is struggling not to laugh herself. She shakes her head and holds his gaze.

"Yes, yes it does."

'_Cause you were just a small bump unborn for four months then torn from life. Maybe you were needed up there but we're still unaware as why._

**A/N 2:** I didn't want this to be another really sad one. I personally have never experienced this but my sister-in-law has and it's been quite a few years ago and she and my brother have two wonderful little boys and they seem really happy now and that's what I was getting at… I hope it turned out okay.


	18. Chapter 18 - Felicity

**A/N: **Uh, so yeah, this is out and out SMUT so if you aren't in to that, turn back now… and if you are, well, you're welcome. I don't know where this came from, why I thought I needed to add another M-rated chapter but it couldn't be helped. And I really do love this song… "Burning Desire" by Lana Del Rey.

**Never Stop**

_Every Saturday night I get dressed up to ride for you, baby. Cruising down the street on Hollywood and Vine for you, baby. I drive fast, wind in my hair, I push you to the limits 'cause I just don't care. You ask me where I been? I've been everywhere. I don't wanna be nowhere but here. Come on, tell me boy._

She is backed against the door as soon as it's closed and she wastes no time tearing at his clothes. She fumbles with the buttons of his Armani shirt, tugging impatiently when she can't get them undone. His lips attack the column of her throat and work across her bare shoulder. Every inch of skin his lips touch tingle in his wake, the heavy ache in her abdomen grows more uncomfortable and she thinks that she may combust.

Hours. That is how long she has been fantasizing about this, about him. They've just come home from an incredibly long and boring dinner where he'd presented an aware to the Chief Technology Officer of Queen Consolidated. She hadn't even wanted to go. Their relationship wasn't yet public knowledge so when he'd asked her to be his date, she'd balked. She wasn't comfortable being seen as the woman of the week for Oliver Queen. Their relationship was so much more complicated than that, so much more important.

_I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire. Come on tell me, boy. I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire. Come on tell me, boy. _

He nips at the tendon between her neck and shoulder and she gasps at the jolt of pleasure that shoots straight to her groin. The juncture of her thighs is damp, her arousal evident, and she is desperate to have him touch her, desperate for the feel of his calloused fingers on her clit. Her breasts ache, her nipples abraded by the fabric of her dress as she rubs herself against him. His hands skim the length of her back before settling beneath her butt. He lifts her and she wraps her legs around his waist. The feel of his erection hard against her sex has her rolling her hips into him to relieve the ache there.

His teeth find her earlobe, his tongue swirling around the diamond stud there, and she mews as a myriad of sensation washes over her.

_I drive fast, wind in my hair, I push you to the limits 'cause I just don't care. I've got a burning desire._

When he'd come to pick her up that evening, she had opened the door to find him in a perfectly cut black suit, black dress shirt and no tie. She had considered dragging him down the hall to her bedroom and when she'd realized that he hadn't shaved, it had taken everything in her power not to beg him to skip dinner. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her but for the last few weeks, ever since the first night he'd made love to her, all she could think about was having him inside of her again. She couldn't get enough of him.

The zipper of her dress rasps loudly in her otherwise silent apartment and his hands delve into the part, fingers dragging across the skin that he's just exposed. Her back bows and she cries out. Why she's so damn sensitive, she doesn't know but the way he makes her feel is unreal.

He sets her on her feet and her dress slides down her body to pool on the floor. She is left standing in nothing but her heels and a single scrap of lace. She isn't shy with him, not now, and she quickly steps forward to attack the buttons of his shirt again. It's off and on the floor in a matter of seconds and she's reaching for his belt when he stops her. One large hand wraps around both of her wrists where he secures them behind her back and he lowers his head, his free hand palming her breast, and his lips close over her stiff nipple.

_Every Saturday night I seem to come alive for you, baby. Santa Monica, I'm racing in the lights for you, baby. I drive fast, radio blares, have to touch myself to pretend that you're there. Your hands were on my hips, your name is on my lips. Over over again, like my only prayer. Come on, tell me boy._

"Oliver!"

She throws her head back, gasping, and squirms in his arms. She cannot escape the onslaught of sensation that his mouth creates and liquid heat surges between her thighs. He suckles the bud hard before rolling it between his teeth. She whimpers, desperate for more and at the same time overwhelmed. When he switches to her other breast, her knees give out and she is held up only be the arm that is wrapped around her. She thinks that she may come just from his mouth on her breasts. She can see the edge of oblivion quickly approaching when he suddenly releases her and steps away.

Her legs shake as she struggles to stay upright. With heavy-lidded eyes, she watches as he toes off his shoes before removing his belt and stepping out of his slacks. When he is standing before her in his boxer-briefs and nothing else, her mouth becomes dry and her clit throbs painfully. She can see the outline of his cock through the thin material and she cannot decide which sensation she wants more, the feeling of his mouth on her or the fullness of him buried deep inside of her. She has experienced both on more than one occasion and they are equally amazing.

_I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire. Come on tell me, boy. I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire. Come on tell me, boy. _

The dress she'd chosen for that night had been short and green and simple, nothing too flashy, but the hem had left most of her legs bare and the sweetheart neckline had given him a tempting glimpse of her cleavage. She hadn't necessarily meant to tease him with it, to tempt him with all of that skin, but the result had certainly been to her benefit.

When he drops to his knees in front of her, heat rushes through her from head to toe. He's apparently made the decision that he is going to taste her before he fills her and she has no reason to complain. His hands grip her hips, thumbs dipping into the waistband of her underwear as his lips skim across her abdomen. He sucks a patch of skin just below her bellybutton, bringing the blood to the surface and making that spot particularly tender, and she knows that he'll leave a mark. Between the hickey and the abrasions from his stubble, she'll be covered in them.

_I drive fast, wind in my hair, I push you to the limits 'cause I just don't care. I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire._

She's so distracted by the unending train of thought swirling in her head that she is shocked when his mouth closes over her center and he tastes her through the lace she still wears. Her head falls back against the door with a sharp thud and she thrusts her fingers into his hair. She's gasping, her breathing erratic, and her vision begins to blur at the edges. It's coming, that wave of pleasure that he's so skilled at creating, and when he slides the thong down her legs and his tongue swirls around her clit, she moans loudly and fists a handful of his hair. Two of his fingers sink into the wet heat of her sex and she's lost, her mind blank, as she careens headlong over the cliff.

"Oh god, Oliver, yes. Yes, please."

_I'm driving fast, flash, everyone knows it. I'm trying to get to you, baby. I'm feeling scared and you know it. I'm driving fast, flash, everyone knows it. I'm trying to get to you, baby. I'm feeling scared and you know it._

She babbles, her brain short circuiting with pleasure, as he pumps his fingers in and out of her slowly. The waves slow, becoming more bearable, until he withdraws from her altogether. He's on his feet again, their lips colliding, as she shoves his boxers down and frees him from the confining fabric. His hands settled on his upper thighs once again and he lifts her, his length sliding into her as he slowly lowers her with her back against the door. Their lips slant, teeth clash, and she tastes herself on his tongue. He fills her, stretches her, and every muscle in her body is wound tight. He's shaking, his body trembling as he tries to draw out both of their pleasure. She wraps her arms around his neck, her fingers twisting in the short hairs at the back of his head, and nips at his lower lip.

"Come on, baby," she mumbles, "Please… oh god… come with me."

_I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire. Come on tell me, boy. I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire. Come on tell me, boy. _

She won't last, not with the pace that he's keeping, and she knows that he's been on edge since first sitting down beside her at dinner. She drags her short nails down his neck and across his shoulders, her lips trailing along his jaw. She suckles at the pulse point in his throat and he growls, his chest rumbling against hers, and she knows that he's done. His shoulders shake and his eyes close and when his head falls against hers, she feels him pulse inside of her.

Her own ecstasy ripples through her and as the world around her tips up on its side and heat races down her spine, it's his name that tumbles from her lip. It's his name this time and it will be every time after because even though he isn't the first man that she's made love to, he will be the last.

_I drive fast, wind in my hair, I push you to the limits 'cause I just don't care. I've got a burning desire for you, baby. I've got a burning desire._


	19. Chapter 19 - Felicity

**A/N:** Wow, this one turned into sappy-mushiness but yeah, oh well. Anyhow, thanks so much for all of the reviews of the last few chapters! It's always uplifting to know that people are still reading this! The song in this one is "Anything Like Me" by Brad Paisley.

And for those of you who are wondering, here's the timeline I'm working with for this story. Ages are listed (O/F). I'm taking liberty and assuming their birthdays are May and July, like Stephen and Emily's.

**April 2016: They get married (30/27)**

**January 2017: Georgia is born (31/28)**

**May 2022: Madeline is born (36/33)**

**Never Stop**

_I remember sayin' I don't care either way, just as long as he or she is healthy I'm OK. Then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen and said, "You see that thing right there? Well, you know what that means."_

She knows that an extravagant party is not something that he wants for his birthday. If anything, he would prefer to ignore the day all together but she won't let that happen. Partly because he shares the day with Maddie and partly because, as his wife, she feels that his life deserves to be celebrated. She has always made sure that his birthday is special in some way or another because she loves and appreciates him and she does what she can to make sure that he knows. Unlike previous years that they've been together, however, she considers this year to be especially important. Turning forty is a big deal, more so because of the life that he's led and the experiences that he's survived, and she wants him to celebrate with their friends and family.

She has planned a small surprise party for him, the only people that she'd felt she needed to invite being Roy and Sin and Sara and Laurel. Lyla and Quentin would be in attendance as well, of course, and their small group would meet the Saturday after his and Maddie's birthday at Big Belly. She is nervous about his reaction to the party but more than that, she is terrified of how he will react to the gift that she has for him.

_I started wondering who he was gonna be and I thought, "Heaven help us if he's anything like me."_

She hadn't needed to buy him a gift this year, not really, because his gift is the news of the new baby that is currently growing inside of her. He will be shocked, she certainly had been, but she knows that his happiness will outweigh the surprise. Their third child, her fourth pregnancy, had certainly not been planned. They had decided just after Madeline's second birthday that they weren't going to try for another baby, that they would be more careful with their birth control. The family, the four of them, was big enough and they were tremendously happy. But when she'd missed her period a month before and the anticipation that she could potentially be pregnant again had sunk in, she'd felt anxious butterflies in her belly. She'd taken two at-home tests before scheduling an appointment with her doctor to confirm that she was expecting. All of the tests had been positive and it had been officially announced that Baby Queen number three was on his, or her, way.

_He'll probably climb a tree too tall and ride his bike to fast. End up every summer wearing something in a cast. He's gonna throw a ball and break some glass in a window down the street._

She smiles to herself, one hand drifting unconsciously to her non-existent baby bump. Gigi is at school and Maddie is down for a nap so she goes to the closet in the spare room and pulls out the bag tucked behind boxes of holiday decorations. She takes the tiny onsie out and holds it up to examine it. She knows that she should've waited to know for sure what they are having before making her purchase but something in her heart tells her that she got it right. They have two stunning little girls already and she is almost positive that they will finally get the little boy that she's been dreaming of.

_He's gonna get in trouble, oh he's gonna get in fights. I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep. Its say to say that, I'm gonna get my pay back, if he's anything like me._

She doesn't hear him come into the room behind her, she hadn't even heard the front door open, so when his hands settle on her hips, she shrieks in surprise and whirls around.

"Oliver!" she gasps, quickly thrusting the baby outfit behind her back.

He grins, knowing full well that's he's scared the life out of her, and she rolls her eyes at his playfulness.

"What are you doing in here?" he questions.

She shrugs, hoping it comes off nonchalant, "Nothing, I was just –"

_I can see him right now, knees all skinned up, with a magnifying glass trying to melt a Tonka truck. Won't he be a sight with his football helmet on, that'll be his first love 'til his first love comes along. He'll get his heart broke by the time he's in his teens and heaven help him if he's anything like me._

Before she can step out of his reach, he makes a grab for the item in her hand. She makes a weak attempt to get it back but it's useless. He holds it out of her reach with one hand while he uses the other to pull her closer. He kisses her, his lips firm and insistent and she is unable to resist the way her body melts into him. When he pulls away from her, she's breathless.

"So what is this?"

She's been so drugged by his mouth that she's forgotten about the birthday present that he's taken from her. He examines it for a moment and she chews on her bottom lip as she waits for him to say something. She hadn't planned on him finding out like this, not exactly. She had planned on wrapping the outfit and mixing it in with the other gifts at his party. She hadn't even planned on putting a card with it. She'd wanted it to be a complete surprise.

_He'll probably stay out too late and drive his car to fast. Get a speeding ticket he'll pay for mowing grass. He's gonna get caught skipping class and be grounded for a week. _

He fingers the material, swiping his thumb over the wording printed on the front.

"Daddy's little boy?" he says quietly, his eyes finding hers.

She nods, "It has to be a boy this time, right? There's enough estrogen in this household, another girl would be too much. And I mean, I know that it doesn't work that way but I figure it can't hurt to want it to be a boy. Not that I'd be unhappy either way. But I do, I really, really want this one to be a boy because we've already got two little me's and I want a little you, you know?"

_He's gonna get in trouble, we're gonna get in fights. I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep. It's safe to say that, I'm gonna get my pay back, if he's anything like me._

She rambles even as a lump forms in her throat. It hits her then that she does want this baby to be a boy more than anything. She wants him to look just like his father, with those deep blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair. She wants to see her husband in her son the way that he sees her in their daughters.

"When? How long?"

His question is spoken softly and she can tell that the realization of what's to come is setting in. Neither of them had expected this, had really considered being parents to a newborn at forty and thirty-seven, certainly not while raising a four year old and an eight year old. They hadn't been expecting to raise a third child but as the news sinks in, she discovers that her want for this new baby is exponential.

"I'm about ten weeks. He's due at the end of November."

_He's gonna love me and hate me along the way. Years are gonna fly by, I already dread the day. He's gonna hug his momma, he's gonna shake my hand. He's gonna act like he can't wait to leave._

He nods but falls silent, staring at the small piece of clothing in his hand. She steps into his personal space - because really, there is no such thing between them – and slides her arms around him. She rests her ear over his rapidly beating heart and closes her eyes.

"You okay?" she whispers.

He nods, his arms coming up around her, crushing her to his chest.

"I can't believe… I thought…"

He can't find the words and its okay, she understands.

"I love you," he breathes.

She smiles and hugs him harder, "I love you, too, baby. Happy Birthday."

John Thomas Queen, named for his father's two closest friends, is born six and a half months later on a cold night at the end of November.

_But as he drives out, he'll cry his eyes out, if he's anything like me. There's worse folks to be like. Oh, he'll be alright. If he's anything like me._


End file.
